The U.S. Navy is drafting new guidelines for personnel to report unauthorized and unidentified aircraft sightings—what were previously called “unidentified flying objects” or UFOs. The Navy said, in a statement to Politico, that it is not “endorsing the idea that its sailors have encountered alien spacecraft” but rather “acknowledging that there have been enough strange aerial sightings by credible and
Read more
An amphibious transport dock ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy participated in the Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand Feb. 12-23, 2019. During the exercises, the ship, USS Green Bay, launched assault amphibious vehicles (AAVs) from its well deck. USS Green Bay is forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan as part of Commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet and is operating in the
Read more
Sea Hunter, an autonomous surface vessel that can patrol with no crew onboard for months at a time, recently completed a round trip from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship is a 132-ft. trimaran that was developed by DARPA, built by Leidos and turned over to the Office of Naval Research last year for testing. Its purpose is
Read more
A U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class attack submarine participated in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine competition (SUBCOMP) this week. SUBCOMP is designed to evaluate and test Japanese crews across multiple platforms on their ability to conduct various aspects of anti-submarine warfare. The inclusion of U.S. Navy assets in the exercise also provides an excellent opportunity for bilateral integration and
Read more
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) reports that the current U.S. government shutdown is negatively affecting Earth and space science research. Today, AGU released a list of projects affected by the lack of funding, transportation and manpower, and the union invited reporting on problems with immediate loss of real-time data and damage to immersed equipment due to lack of servicing. Projects
Read more
By Warren Duffie Jr., ONR For his work in the establishment of a new scientific field, Dr. Nicklas Pisias received the Maurice Ewing Medal, sponsored jointly by the U.S. Navy and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Pisias, a professor emeritus at Oregon State University, accepted the award at the AGU fall meeting in December 2018. Named after Dr. Maurice Ewing,
Read more