The U.S. Navy has awarded Insitu a $70.8 million contract modification under which it is procuring six Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems. Three of the full rate production Lot I RQ-21A UAS will go to the navy and the other three to the marines. The UAS consists of air vehicles, ground control stat
U.S. Navy’s final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush was launched on this day, January 10, at the Newport News shipyard, Virginia. The 332-meter-long, nuclear-powered ship was laid down on May 19, 2003 and launched on October 9, 2006 with Dorothy W.B. Koch, daughter of President Bush
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mahan fired three warning shots at Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels after they came within 800 meters of the ship on January 8. The incident took place in the Strait of Hormuz and involved the U.S. Navy destroyer and four Iranian vessels,
The UK Ministry of Defense has signed a five-year deal worth £271 million with Leonardo Helicopters to continue support work on the Wildcat helicopters. The MOD hailed the deal as one that would sustain approximately 500 jobs, primarily at Leonardo’s facilities in Yeovil and Royal Naval Air Station
Royal Navy’s Sea King Mk7 airborne surveillance and control helicopters have joined HMS Ocean in the Gulf to practise in preparation for Merlin helicopters that will succeed the Sea Kings as the carrier’s ‘flying eyes’. After years over the sands of Afghanistan – where their radars proved vital in t
The U.S. Navy accepted its 50th P-8A Poseidon (P-8A) maritime, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida on January 5. The Navy’s Poseidon is replacing the legacy P-3 Orion and will improve an operator’s ability to efficiently conduct anti-submarine warf
The Russian Ministry of Defense has recently shared a new video of the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s lone aircraft carrier, operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The video, shared on YouTube, has no description but it is evident that it reflects on the carrier’s air wing operations off the coast of Syri
The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command has awarded Boston Ship Repair a $17.2 million contract for a 75-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS Comfort (T-AH 20). Work on the Military Sealift Command-operated hospital ship will include servicing of gener
An eventful 2016 has shown that the Royal Australian Navy’s 33-year old Adelaide-class frigate HMAS Darwin still packs a punch. The frigate deployed on two operations and worked with a number of foreign navies across the globe. The year started with a bang, with the ship’s company viewing the New Ye
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has received a South Korean court approval for the acquisition of Saint-Nazaire-based shipbuilder STX France. The French shipyard was owned by South Korean STX Offshore and Shipbuilding who, amid financial problems, decided to sell the French yard under a company-wide
The Royal Navy has awarded British technology company Ultra Electronics a £9.7m contract extension for the supply and production of sonobuoys for the Royal Navy’s Merlin Mk2 maritime patrol helicopter fleet. The company announced Wednesday that its Command & Sonar Systems sonobuoy facility, based in
Spanish Navy’s offshore patrol vessel ESPS Relámpago, currently part of the European Union Naval Force, met in the Gulf of Aden with Task Force 151 Pakistan Navy Ship, PNS Tariq on January 1. During the meeting, crewmembers from both ships cross-decked to the other in order to meet and share common
Sailors from Japanese destroyer JS Yuugiri (DD 153) and U.S. Navy’s USS Shiloh (CG 67) met at sea to exchange holiday gifts on December 28. A week before, sailors from Japanese helicopter carrier JS Izumo visited U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for a gift exchange and ship tour. During the m
The U.S. Navy’s unmanned helicopter, MQ-8B Fire Scout, celebrated 10 years of flight on December 18, during a ceremony at Webster Field Annex, Maryland. The helicopter flew 15,000 hours during test and real-world operations since its first flight ten years ago. Fire Scout’s next variant, the MQ-8C w
