President Trump: US Navy cleared mines in Strait of Hormuz, new mines will be 'systematically destroyed'

Good news!

Where are the coward European powers when you need them! Shame on them! This minesweeping would have been a job for them!

(3) Trump: Navy cleared mines in Strait of Hormuz, new mines will be 'systematically destroyed' - YouTube

Largest Naval Expansion Since Reagan: First New US Shipyard in Over 80 Years.

Good news! I bet, President Trump wants to be remembered like President Reagan!

"On August 13, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum [NSPM] launching the most ambitious naval expansion since the Reagan era.

The order directs the establishment of the first new naval shipyard in more than 80 years and a new submarine component repair center, while ordering a comprehensive review and reorganization of Naval Sea Systems Command to fix chronic cost and schedule failures across six major programs.

The NSPM adopts a “Finland model” that allows foreign shipbuilders to temporarily build ships in their home yards while investing capital in American facilities and training American workers for future domestic production.

This builds on nearly $9 billion already committed for arctic security cutters and a sweeping buildup of new submarines, destroyers, and aircraft carriers — restoring U.S. naval dominance after decades of underfunding."

White House Weekly Briefing | August 10–16, 2026

US Navy instructs commands to remove portraits, biographies of officers and civilians from websites

Bad news!

It was also reported that individual US soldiers stationed in the Gulf States, Jordan were surveilled and their location determined by publicly available records by rogue states. This may have contributed to specific targeting by recent Iranian attacks.

"The U.S. Navy announced that certain commands are no longer authorized to provide photos and biographies of leadership on public-facing websites.

The decision was made to enhance security for sailors and their families, the service said.

“Adversaries increasingly aggregate publicly available data to track, profile, and target our personnel,” a Navy administrative message read. “By creating an unnecessary spotlight and surge of online interest, routine command triad biographies inadvertently expose our people to elevated risk.”

Commands led by vice admirals and officers with a lower rank, including civilian equivalents, are now prohibited from uploading the personal information on public websites. ..."

Navy instructs commands to remove portraits, biographies from websites

US Senator Mark Kelly, a retired US Navy captain, will be demoted by the Secretary of Defense for a seditious video

Good news! Bravo!

"The Pentagon is moving to demote Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, over his participation in a video calling on troops to resist illegal orders, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Reducing the Arizona Democrat’s retired rank would significantly cut his retirement pay. Hegseth also said he’d issued a formal “Letter of Censure.” The actions taken against Kelly are an extraordinary censure of a sitting U.S. senator but stop short of recalling him to active duty and prosecuting him, as Trump officials have threatened to do. Hegseth didn’t rule it out."

The Wall Street Journal What's news

What does his wife Gabby Giffords think of his video? (Source)

Solar-powered unmanned surface vessel sets new speed crossing the Atlantic Ocean in over two months

Amazing stuff!

"A small unmanned surface vessel called the Lightfish made a new milestone for USVs when it arrived in Portugal just over two months after being launched by the U.S. Navy in June.

The fully autonomous Lightfish is a small solar-powered craft manufactured by Seasats. Its solar panels operate and store energy even in cloudy weather, and the craft is equipped with a battery and generator that can extend its range for over 500 nautical miles in emergency situations. The Lightfish is able to detect obstacles in its path and can respond to them autonomously or be maneuvered remotely. ..."

Solar-powered unmanned surface vessel sets new speed crossing Atlantic

Success at Sea: Unmanned Surface Vessel Completes Fastest Transatlantic Crossing (original news release) "Scientists with Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic's Unmanned Naval Innovation Team reached a historic milestone when they recovered a Navy-sponsored unmanned surface vessel named the Lightfish in Troia, Portugal, following its harrowing — and completely solo — transatlantic crossing."

Seasats

Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic successfully completed the fastest known transatlantic crossing of an unmanned surface vessel Sept. 9, 2025. 

As long as it fits on a pickup truck! 😊

The LightFish

US Coast Guard responds amid spike in Chinese marine activity near Alaska since 2021

The hegemon China again uses so called research ships to probe other countries resolve.

If the Arctic region loses some of its ice coverage, it may become a major shipping route in the future.

"The US Coast Guard in July made a rare announcement: Off the coast of Alaska, within a maritime zone known as the extended continental shelf, the service detected a Chinese research vessel. 

Then came a similar announcement in August. This time, five Chinese research ships were spotted operating in American Arctic waters. The Coast Guard, in conjunction with US Northern Command, the Pentagon’s combatant command tasked with defending the homeland, deployed units to observe the Chinese flotilla.

Come September, yet again, two Chinese-flagged research ships were spotted northwest of Alaska. And once more, the Coast Guard announced the deployment of ships and aircraft to monitor their activity."

Coast Guard 'naming and shaming' amid spike in Chinese activity near Alaska - Breaking Defense "Coast Guard and Pentagon officials told Breaking Defense China has steadily increased its patrols near the northernmost state since 2021."

... China-flagged research ship Xue Long 2 on the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in the U.S. Arctic, approximately 290 NM north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, July 25, 2025. ...

US deploying three US Navy destroyers off the coast of Venezuela

Good news!

US Navy getting Defiant: Unmanned ship highlights innovation

Recommendable!

Undersea sensors—a US trump card China knows it must eliminate

Recommendable!

"Unseen, largely unknown and, until recently, highly classified, the US Navy’s vast network of underwater sonars is one of its greatest advantages over rival fleets. The United States can detect many, if not most, enemy submarines through much of the world’s oceans.

A sub that can be detected can also be killed. It’s a profound problem for the Chinese navy as it eyes a possible amphibious assault across the Taiwan Strait. Its growing fleet of quiet attack submarines could protect the landing force—but only if they themselves can avoid detection. ...

The US Navy was a pioneer in seabed surveillance. In 1950, the service launched the then highly secret Project Jezebel, a generational effort to lay thousands of miles of undersea cable connecting sensitive acoustic sensors to shore stations staffed by sonar analysts.

By the time the navy declassified the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System in 1991, it also included catamaran surveillance ships towing additional acoustic arrays. Today, the system—again largely cloaked in secrecy—probably also features many small drones on the surface and under the waves. Shore sensors, ocean surveillance satellites and reconnaissance aircraft, crewed and uncrewed, also complement the undersea equipment. ..."

Undersea sensors—a US trump card China knows it must eliminate | The Strategist

US Navy one of just three Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine will be out 5 years due to ‘poor seamanship’

Damaged in 2021 and still in repair!

US Navy makes history with unmanned underwater vehicle

Recommendable!

Defense Secretary Hegseth orders renaming of ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk during Pride Month

Controversial, but not without merit! The naming happened under President Obama!

Apparently, there were several other navy ship naming controversies during the term of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus (D).

"... The oiler Harvey Milk was named in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who said at the time that the John Lewis-class of oilers would be named after leaders who fought for civil and human rights. ..."

Hegseth orders renaming of ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk

US shipbuilding challenges a matter of national defense and the US Navy

Recommendable! I am not sure whether more ships are necessary in the age of drone warfare. Ships are easy targets!

Why the US Navy wants to build a fully autonomous satellite

Food for thought!

Will it be hack and sabotage proof? Probably not!

It needs a database to be trained. How long does it take for the database to be outdated?

"Navy researchers are testing a fully autonomous satellite designed to detect and characterize objects in space.

The system, called Autosat, is designed to task, calibrate its signals and send and receive information on its own without the need for a human operator. Steven Meier, director of space technology at the Naval Research Laboratory, said his team has demonstrated the capability in the lab. ...

Autosat features an imaging payload that the lab has trained with a database of images, including airports, runways, roads and buildings. The more information the payload receives, the smarter it becomes about recognizing patterns and spotting objects. ..."

Why the US Navy wants to build a fully autonomous satellite

What Russia’s Exit from Its Syrian naval Base Should Teach the United States by Michael Rubin

Recommendable! Either taking over the abandoned naval base or making sure it is not taken over by another country (e.g. China).

"... The Syrian government under Ahmed al-Sharaa and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham ... decision to revoke the Russian lease over its naval base in Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartus is a net positive for the United States. An American effort to take over the Russian lease could be an even greater positive. ..."

What Russia’s Exit from Its Syrian Base Should Teach the United States | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Navy expects to have first female submarine commander by 2028. Really!

What is this? A gender quota? Will these submarines be staffed by women only?

"Fourteen years after the Navy began integrating women into submarine crews, the population of enlisted women and officers in subs continues to grow steadily year-over-year — and the service projects it will name the first female submarine commanding officer by 2028. ...

For fiscal 2024, there were 87 female officer accessions and 400 enlisted accessions, she told the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services at its quarterly meeting near Washington. That represents 20.3% of officer accessions and 9.5% of enlisted. Fiscal 2024 also represented the largest jump in female enlisted accessions since integration began, rising from 271 the previous year for an increase of nearly 48%.

In all, though, 712 women are currently assigned to submarines, making up just under 5% of a total sub force of more than 15,000. ..."

Navy expects to have first female submarine commander by 2028

Lt. Cmdr. Amber Cowan made history in 2022 when she became the first woman to serve as an XO on a U.S. Navy submarine. Service officials now say they expect to see a woman command a submarine by 2028.

US Navy stealth Destroyers to get first shipborne hypersonic missiles

What a stealthy move! 😊

"The U.S. Navy is transforming a costly flub into a potent weapon with the first shipborne hypersonic weapon, which is being retrofitted aboard the first of its three stealthy destroyers."

Destroyers to get hypersonic missiles

Stealth destroyer to be home for 1st hypersonic weapon on a US warship

The guided-missile destroyer Zumwalt is being retrofitted with the first shipborne hypersonic weapon.

U.S. Navy to commission first sub designed for both men and women sailors

What does this cost the taxpayer? What will actually be changed?

Unfortunately, the article does not say how many female soldiers currently serve on submarines. According to Google Search: "As of August 2024, 730 women are serving on submarines in the US Navy, including officers and sailors. They are assigned to 19 nuclear-powered attack boats and 19 ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines. The U.S. Navy's submarine force has about 22,000 active duty personnel."

What about transgender people?

"The Navy is slated to commission its very first Virginia-class submarine designed for a fully gender-integrated crew on Saturday.

A submarine designed and built for both genders has been a long time coming. The New Jersey is entering the fleet roughly 14 years after then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended the ban on women serving on subs in 2010.

Female officers did not join the submarine force until 2011, and such roles only opened up to enlisted sailors in 2015. ..."

Navy to commission first sub designed for both men and women sailors

First submarine fully integrated for coed crews to join U.S. Navy fleet next week

Close quarters for these women and men! Nine months later, providing for the next generation of sailors! 😊

Are there any U.S. Navy submarines staffed only by females?

The Beatles: "... And we lived beneath the waves In our yellow submarine ..."

"The first submarine fully integrated for mixed gender crews will join the Navy fleet next week during a commissioning ceremony in its namesake state of New Jersey. ..."

First submarine fully integrated for coed crews to join Navy fleet next week | Stars and Stripes

Birth of the US Navy - John Paul Jones

Recommendable!