Divers from the US, German and Dutch navies concluded several days of expeditionary mine countermeasures (ExMCM) training as part of exercise Bold Alligator 2017 (BA17). The combined ExMCM force had members from the Royal Netherlands Navy Defense Dive Group Very Shallow Water (VSW) Dive Platoon, Ger
With the arrival of USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the US 7th Fleet area of operations on October 25, the US Navy now has three aircraft carriers operating in the Pacific. The lead ship of the “supercarriers” is joining sister ships USS Ronald Reagan and USS Theodore Roosevelt. Not counting submarines, mine
US Navy’s amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22) got underway from Souda Bay, Greece, October 21, after completing a scheduled mid-deployment voyage repair maintenance there. San Diego’s port visit allowed the crew and contractors to carry out repairs and maintenance ensuring the ship
US Coast Guard’s program to equip its National Security Cutters (NSC) with small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) has received approval to start acquisition and initial operational testing on board an NSC. The service’s approval allows the program to proceed with its planned release of a request for
US Marines fired the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from the flight deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23) during the joint US Navy-Marines drill Dawn Blitz 2017. The HIMARS is a weapons system made up of the M142 five-ton chassis vehicle and
The US Navy christened its second expeditionary Expeditionary Sea Base, the USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), in a ceremony in San Diego, California, on October 21. The ship’s namesake, Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams, spoke at the ceremony, and his two daughters, Travie Ross and Tracie Ross,
The US-hosted amphibious drill Bold Alligator will be joined by Mexican, Canadian and French Navy ships in addition to personnel from a number of other ally countries. Bold Alligator 2017 (BA17) started in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on October 18 and will run through October 30 around Camp Lejeun
US sailors and marines from Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3 and 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) gathered in Southern California to kick off the amphibious exercise Dawn Blitz 2017. Dawn Blitz 2017 is a scenario-driven amphibious exercise designed to train and integrate the staffs of ESG-3
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its carrier strike group arrived in Busan, South Korea, for a port visit on October 21. USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem (DDG 63) and USS Chafee (DDG 90) pulled into Busan after participating in Maritime Counter S
Mine countermeasure experts form the UK and US navies embarked the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Cardigan Bay to complete the Mine Identification and Exploitation Exercise 2017 . The exercise allowed for US and UK forces to share knowledge of mine countermeasures (MCM) capabilities in searching, identi
Collaborating under an Integrated Program Office (IPO), the US Navy and Coast Guard released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for the detail design and construction of a Heavy Polar Icebreaker (HPIB). Released on October 19, the draft RFP is for one HPIB, with options for two additional HPIBs. The
The US Navy will be christening its future Freedom-variant littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) in a ceremony at Canalside, Buffalo, on December 16. The announcement was made by the Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer on October 18. The future LCS 9, commanded by Cmdr. Todd Peters, is the t
Boeing has recently awarded Lockheed Martin two contracts to upgrade its IRST21 sensor system for use on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F fleet. The Block II contracts provide up to $100 million for developing advanced software, performing hardware upgrades and delivering prototypes. These efforts will fur
US Marines and amphibious forces were joined by armed forces of the United Arab Emirates on October 15 to start a two-week amphibious exercise called Iron Magic. Iron Magic enables regional partners to coordinate amphibious landing, infantry training, military operations in urban terrain (MOUT), mec
