US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) has qualified the first nine F-35C Lightning II pilots during its underway period. The Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) Carrier Qualifications were successfully completed between December 7 and 11. Along with Abraham Lincoln, the “
The US Marine Corps’ unmanned helicopter has completed a successful final flight demonstration at Marine Corps Base Quantico, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced. The unmanned helicopter enhances autonomy options for the Marine Corps and was developed as part of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/
The US Navy is set to receive USNS City of Bismarck (T-EPF 9), its ninth expeditionary fast transport ship, later this month. As one of the navy’s newest ship classes, the non-combatant EPFs provide warfighters with a ship that can be configured and reconfigured to take on any number of missions fro
The US Navy amphibious ready group (ARG) assembled around the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is ready to deploy after tackling the final pre-deployment hurdle. Sailors aboard the three ships constituting the ARG completed a combined composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) December 9, provi
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on December 7 launched combat sorties into Afghanistan as part of Pentagon’s operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the US Navy announced. Worth noting is the fact that the Roosevelt’s carrier air wing flew two different mission on the same day, one into Afghan
The Royal Danish Navy is scheduled to commission its third and final Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessel, HDMS Lauge Koch (P572), in a ceremony at Naval Station Korsør on December 11. Like its two predecessors, Lauge Koch will be patrolling the North Atlantic performing fisheries inspections, search
The US Navy announced it would be sending a team of deep water salvage experts to start a renewed search for the crashed C-2A Greyhound aircraft. The C-2A with 11 crew and passengers crashed in the Philippine Sea on the way to USS Ronald Reagan on November 22. While the aircraft’s last position on t
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Bell-Boeing JPO a $19.6 million contract to deliver seven V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft for the US Marine Corps. The initial contract was awarded to Bell Boeing in June 2013 for the procurement of 100 V-22s during FY13-FY17. The total contract value was nearly
The Mexican Navy received the final two of overall ten AS565 MBe multi-mission Panther helicopters during a delivery ceremony at Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, France. The Mexican Navy was the first customer of the new version of the Panther after ordering the units in 2014. The first four helicop
Finnish boat builder Boomeranger Boats will be delivering its rigid hull inflatable boats to the United Arab Emirates and the Indian Navy after signing the contracts earlier this year. Announcing the contracts, the company said it is set to deliver a total of 34 special operations boats to the Unite
The US Navy and Royal Navy completed a UK/US mine countermeasures exercise (MCMEX) in the central Persian Gulf on December 7. This quarterly event doubled as the certification for the staff of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 52 by Surface Mine Warfighting Development Center. The exercise involved a rang
US Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) returned home to San Diego on December 5, after spending 18 months on its maiden deployment to Southeast Asia. The embarked “Wildcards” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 disembarked the ship earlier in the day, flying back to Naval Air Sta
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) paid a visit to Pearl Harbor on December 4 on the return leg of a six-month deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific and the Persian Gulf. Pinckney left her homeport of San Diego in June with an embarked detachment from Helicopt
After concluding several days of drills with the Egyptian Navy, the French task group composed of helicopter carrier BPC Tonnerre and destroyer FS Chevalier Paul pulled into Aqaba, Jordan, to embark US Marines on December 4. The French Task Group 473.1, together with sailors and marines from Naval A
