On August 6, 2011, America suffered the single deadliest day of the Afghanistan War when a CH-47D Chinook helicopter—call sign Extortion 17—was shot down in the Tangi Valley of Wardak Province. All 38 souls aboard perished, including 30 American military personnel, one military working dog, and eight Afghans. Among the fallen were 17 members of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs, many from the renowned SEAL Team 6, the same unit credited with the mission that killed Osama bin Laden just months earlier.
Continue reading “Remembering Extortion 17: A Tragic Day for American Warriors”
Chinese media reported that the number of fighter pilots recruited for the country’s aircraft-carrier fleet hit a record high this year, as part of the East Asian power’s rapid naval buildup.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for further comment via email.
Why It Matters
Continue reading “China Reveals Major Boost to Aircraft-Carrier Force”
Messaging Continues:
According to information published by the U.S. Department of Defense on July 18, 2025, the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) and the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09) conducted their first-ever dual carrier operations while underway in the Timor Sea during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. This historic event marks the first time that nuclear-powered aircraft carriers from both the United States and the United Kingdom have operated together in a coordinated maritime formation.
Bogged down by shipbuilding struggles and maintenance woes, the US Navy faces an uphill battle to get its fleet ready for the next high-end conflict, which could be against China and its rapidly modernizing military.
Continue reading “The US Navy Needs A Big Fix To Get Ready For A War With China. Here’s The Top Admiral’s Plan.”
According to information published by the U.S. Space Command on July 8, 2025, the U.S. National Space Defense Center (NSDC), in coordination with the U.S. Navy, successfully conducted the third At-Sea Demonstration (ASD-3) between April 6 and 9, 2025. The exercise featured the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney and marked a significant leap in joint naval-space operations, particularly in the fields of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD).
Continue reading “U.S. Navy and Space Command integrate destroyer ship in space domain defense.”
Proceedings, June 2025… by Rear Admiral Sean Bailey, Captain Brian Evans, and Commander Matthew Timmerman, U.S. Navy
After more than 24 hours of careful movement to evade detection, the strike group remains more than 18 hours from its designated position to launch strikes. The screen is distributed to the maximum extent feasible, optimizing sensor employment while attempting to complicate adversary targeting. The tactical situation (TACSIT) assessment from the information warfare commander (IWC) holds all units within ordered mission go/no-go criteria. Determining that adversary positioning and sensor capabilities provide a period of simplified maneuver and decreased detection risk, the strike group commander and information warfare commander retire for a couple hours of sleep before the operation’s next phase.
Continue reading “Tactical Action Officers: Information Warfare’s Next Evolution”
Station HYPO 