In an unprecedented purge of the military’s senior leadership Friday night, President Donald Trump fired the top US general just moments before his defense secretary fired the chief of the US Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force.

President Donald Trump fired Chair of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown on Friday night, and said he intends to dismiss the Navy’s top admiral and the Air Force’s second in command — an unprecedented shakeup of the Pentagon’s top brass that will create ripple effects throughout the military.

Trump plans to nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as the nation’s next chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

New Zealand said the Chinese navy conducted a live-fire exercise in international waters near the Pacific nation on Saturday, a day after it held a similar drill between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.

The vessels were sailing in the Tasman Sea, and their announced intent to perform exercises prompted a call for commercial flights to divert course.

The Navy announced the firing barely a week after the massive USS Harry S. Truman struck another ship while at sea.

Capt. Dave Snowden, who was in charge of the USS Harry S. Truman when the aircraft carrier collided with a merchant ship, has been fired, the Navy announced.

The commanding officer of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was relieved of his duty on Thursday, just over a week after the vessel collided with a merchant ship.