James Mattis News

Six newly built military patrol boats constructed by Louisiana based shipbuilder Metal Shark have been delivered to the Vietnam Coast Guard. The new deliveries follow an initial round of six Metal Shark 45-foot Defiant-class patrol boats delivered to the Vietnam Coast Guard in the province of Quang Nam in May of 2017. The delivery follows back-to-back U.S. presidential visits to Vietnam from President Obama in 2016 and President Trump in 2017, a visit by Secretary of Defense James Mattis in January 2018, and a visit by the U.S.

Ten U.S. sailors were missing after a collision between a destroyer and a tanker east of Singapore on Monday, the second involving a U.S. warship and a merchant ship in Asia in about two months, triggering a fleet-wide probe of operations and training. The guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided while the warship was heading to Singapore for a routine port call. The collision tore a hole in the warship's waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. "Initial reports indicate John S.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Monday there would be a wider investigation into U.S. naval operations after a American warship collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore, leaving 10 sailors missing in the second accident involving a U.S. warship in two months. "The chief of naval operations' broader inquiry will look at all related accidents at sea, that sort of thing. He is going to look at all factors, not just the immediate ones," Mattis told reporters in Amman, Jordan.

President Donald J. Trump commissioned the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) at a commissioning ceremony July 22. A commissioning is a day of celebration, and honors the dedication, team work, and collaboration of Sailors, legislators, shipbuilders, program managers, and the ship's sponsor in delivering the ship to the fleet. Trump landed on the flight deck in Marine One and was greeted by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, and USS Gerald R. Ford Commanding Officer Capt. Rick McCormack. Over 10,000 friends and family members attended the event, watching the festivities from the hangar bay, the pier and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

An ice-breaking tanker docked for the first time at Russia's Arctic port of Sabetta to test a new route that could open the ice-bound Arctic Ocean to ships carrying oil and liquefied gas. The route is eagerly anticipated by energy firms that want to develop resources in the Arctic but face obstacles in getting oil and gas from remote and freezing fields to world markets. Environmental activists fear commercial shipping in the Arctic -- now possible because climate change has thinned…

It’s still too early to know for certain what the new administration will do about building up the U.S. Navy, as the numbers are a moving target. But with President Trump’s recent pledge to add $54 billion to defense spending, it’s a safe bet to make that the fleet will grow. So let’s start with the numbers. There are different ways to count the fleet size, including whether or not you count auxiliaries, but let’s use this number as the baseline: There are 274 ships in the U.S. Navy now.

The nuclear icebreaker Lenin, the pride and joy of the Soviet Union's Arctic great game, lies at perpetual anchor in the frigid water here. A relic of the Cold War, it is now a museum. But nearly three decades after the Lenin was taken out of service to be turned into a visitor attraction, Russia is again on the march in the Arctic and building new nuclear icebreakers. It is part of a push to firm Moscow's hand in the High North as it vies for dominance with traditional rivals Canada, the United States, and Norway as well as newcomer China.

By a 98-1 vote, the Senate confirmed retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to be the 26th secretary of defense Jan. 20, and Vice President Michael R. Pence administered his oath of office shortly afterward.R. Pence administered his oath of office shortly afterward. Mattis is the first retired general officer to hold the position since General of the Army George C. Marshall in the early 1950s. Congress passed a waiver for the retired four-star general to serve in the position, because law requires former service members to have been out of uniform for at least seven years to serve as defense secretary. Mattis retired from the Marine Corps in 2013. Mattis is a veteran of the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His military career culminated with service as commander of U.S.