There were only four men in U.S. History awarded the five star rank of Fleet Admiral: Chester Nimitz, “Bull” Halsey, William Leahy and Ernie King. From their days at Annapolis to commanding the greatest naval fleet in history, each man spent significant time at sea interspersed with time ashore furthering their education. Not only did…
By Robbin LairdPENTAGON: The Navy’s F/A-XX initiative has been depicted as an ultra-advanced “sixth generation” aircraft that the Navy would prefer to buy instead of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But Breaking Defense interviews with Navy and industry sources strongly suggest that the service has little appetite for another expensive development program and that the most…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CORRECTED We deeply regret the several corrections this story has required. We spoke with NavAir to ensure it now accurately reflects events at the time. FT. LAUDERDALE: Boeing’s premiere helicopter drone is out of the mix to become the Marine Corps’ new unmanned aerial cargo hauler. Company officials are negotiating with their NAVAIR counterparts to…
By Carlo MunozWASHINGTON: It looks like aerial drones are not the only unmanned systems the Pentagon is interested in arming. The special warfare branch of the Navy’s expeditionary warfare division is eying plans to arm its small fleet of unmanned boats with an long-range missile, branch chief Capt. Evin Thompson said. The missile — known as the…
By Carlo Munoz