Shipbuilder BAE Systems received a new floating dry dock at its San Diego shipyard on December 8. The 950-foot-long, 55,000-long-ton dry dock is part of the company’s $100 million investment in the yard to service the anticipated increase of U.S. Navy ships on the West Coast. “We have made the strat
U.S. Navy’s Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group (Ike CSG) has continued airstrikes against ISIL under operation Inherent Resolve, launching sorties from the Eastern Mediterranean on December 6. At the same time, elements of the 22nd marine expeditionary unit (MEU) continued conducting precisio
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $55.7 million modification to a previously awarded contract for the 2017 planned maintenance availability of USS Wasp (LHD-1). A planned maintenance availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications tha
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Huntington Ingalls a $40.9 modification to a previously awarded contract for the advance planning of the refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). According to a Department of Defense statement, the latest
Nuclear/powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) pulled into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 2, ahead of the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day events in Hawaii. December 7, 2016, will mark the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Oahu, which precipitated the United S
Members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee have urged lawmakers not to approve the U.S. Navy’s block buy request for the acquisition of frigates and thereby keep oversight of the potentially worrying program. During a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on Thursday, Paul L. Francis, Gov
Bahrain was the stage for the 39th Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) conference which was held November 30. The conference was a forum to discuss counter-piracy in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean and the importance of cooperation between naval units in the region, industry and othe
U.S. Navy’s George H.W. Bush carrier strike group (GHWBCSG) departed Norfolk on November 28 to begin preparing for an upcoming deployment with a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX). During COMPTUEX, the group will combine technology, training, and tactics into multiple scenarios leading to c
U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) commanders and French officials from the Charles de Gaulle Strike Group (CDGSG) met while operating together in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Nov. 25, 2016. Having replaced the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71), Mason is deployed to s
The U.S. Navy’s unmanned aircraft Tern, under development by DARPA and the Office of Naval Research, has made another step towards its goal of performing an initial flight test by 2018. In mid-October, the Tern team completed a critical design review (CDR) of the air vehicle’s General Electric engin
The Mexican Navy commissioned the offshore patrol vessel ARM Chiapas and logistic support support ship ARM Isla Maria Madre during a ceremony on November 23. The two new vessels were commissioned in the presence of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and the secretary of the Mexican Navy, Admiral V
Secretary of the U.S. Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus visited sailors and marines assigned to USS Makin Island (LHD 8) and the 11th marine expeditionary unit (MEU) while the ship was pierside in Singapore, November 22. Mabus opened the event with an all-hands call, lauding the sailors and marines aboard Mak
Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has announced an expansion project now underway at its waterfront shipbuilding complex in Franklin, Louisiana. The expansion is being undertaken to accommodate increased production needs, the company said. Metal Shark is erecting a fully-enclosed 200’ x 80’ la
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems an initial $10.3 million contract for post-construction work on the new class of guided missile destroyers, USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) and USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001). The contract has an initial award of $10.3 million and a maximum value of $192.7 million for wo
