Defense News in Brief: NEXCOM Helps Military Families Prepare for Back-to-School Season

Source: United States Navy

The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) is the one-stop shop to help military families prepare for the new school year, offering savings, services, programs and resources for students of all ages. 

At NEX locations worldwide, authorized shoppers can find budget-friendly school supplies, backpacks, clothing, shoes and dorm essentials in one convenient location. NEX shoppers always receive tax-free savings, no need to wait for the designated back-to-school tax-free weekends that are offered in some states. 

Defense News in Brief: New Navy HAZMAT Tracking System Modernizes Operations, Bolsters Fleet Readiness Aboard 50 Ships

Source: United States Navy

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Information technology (IT) specialists from Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Business Systems Center (BSC) have installed Hazardous Inventory Control System (HICS) 4 aboard 50 ships since January 2025, bolstering the fleet’s operational readiness and ensuring Sailors are equipped with the Navy’s premier hazardous material tracking capability.

Defense News in Brief: U.S. and Partner Nations conduct SINKEX during RIMPAC 26

Source: United States Navy

Ships and aircraft participating in exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 conducted a planned, live-fire sinking exercise (SINKEX) and sank decommissioned USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), July 12, 2026, and decommissioned USS Peleliu (LHA 5), July 17. Mobile Bay and Peleliu were sunk in waters 15,000 feet deep, more than 50 nautical miles off the northern coast of the island of Kauai.

Defense News in Brief: NRL Advances the Navy’s Quantum Future as America Accelerates Quantum Innovation

Source: United States Navy

As a recent Executive Order declares, “the United States stands at the cusp of a quantum revolution.” At the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) that future is already taking shape as researchers advance the Navy’s quantum research enterprise through groundbreaking science, technology development and strategic partnerships. The order identifies quantum information science and technology (QIST) as a critical driver of innovation, economic growth and national security, reinforcing the importance of work underway across NRL.

Defense News in Brief: CAMRE, FLEETWERX Conduct First-of-Its-Kind Digitally Crewed Surface Vessel Resupply During RIMPAC 2026

Source: United States Navy

During Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026, the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) and FLEETWERX demonstrated a new approach to expeditionary logistics by manufacturing critical components, transporting them aboard a digitally-crewed surface vessel (DCSV), and delivering them to joint forces, all in less than 24 hours.

Defense News in Brief: Pacific Partnership 2026, HMAS Choules Arrive in Indonesia

Source: United States Navy

SIBOLGA, Indonesia – Pacific Partnership 2026 (PP26) mission personnel arrived in Sibolga, Indonesia, aboard the Royal Australian Navy Bay-class landing ship dock HMAS Choules (LSD 100) on July 20, 2026, marking the second mission stop of the U.S. Navy’s largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster preparedness mission in the Indo-Pacific.