In a move that has been a long time coming, the US Air Force will finally cease using Russian made rockets for their satellite launch missions. The US Air Force conducts most if not all of its space launches through a Boeing-Lockheed joint venture known as the United Launch Alliance (ULA), and all ULA rockets are currently powered by Russian-made RD-180 engines. Although the engines themselves function just fine, the Department of Defense is skeptical about relying upon Russia for anything defense related let alone for all space launches.
In February of 2015, the United States Navy announced in a press conference to the House Armed Service Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee that the number of submarines deployed by the Chinese Navy has exceeded that of the U.S. The United States currently has 71 commissioned submarines, while the Pentagon estimates that China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)’s submarine fleet is now in the range of low seventies.
