The US Navy’s Sea Hunter autonomous trimaran became the first ship to successfully autonomously navigate from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and back without a single crew member onboard, vessel designer and builder Leidos announced. The only time people were onboard during the transit was durin
Just weeks after Royal Navy support ship RFA Mounts Bay embarked US Coast Guard personnel for counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean, the team found their first contraband. The Bay-class ship embarked a Dolphin helicopter from the US Coast Guard’s HITRON – Helicopter Interdiction Tactical squ
Maritime patrol squadrons from the US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force met up for a coordinated maritime patrol operational procedures (CMPOP) exercise in Okinawa, Japan, recently. US Navy’s “Golden Swordsmen” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 were joined by JMSDF’s Fleet Air Wing (FAW) 5 for
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Systems a $55 million contract to deliver an additional five Fire Scout MQ-8C unmanned air systems and two lightweight fuel cells. The company is expected to complete work on the contract by August 2021. The MQ-8C is the larger of two Fir
The US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the development of an undersea autonomous system that can navigate to and physically manipulate objects on the sea floor. The autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles are to be developed as part of th
The US Navy is set to retire its last F/A-18C Hornet fighters in a final flight ceremony at Naval Air Station Oceana on February 1. The final single-seat, twin-engine, carrier-capable legacy Hornets are still operational with Strike Fighter Squadron 34 and the “Blue Blasters” are the only squadron f
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and ships from its carrier strike group (ABECSG) departed Naval Station Norfolk for the final pre-deployment exercise on January 25. The undertaking is called the Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) and is designed to assess a strike group’s abili
The eighth iteration of the annual multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express taking place in the vicinity of Djibouti, Mozambique and Seychelles began on January 28. Maritime forces from East Africa, West Indian Ocean nations, Europe, and the United States, as well as several international org
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Boeing a $2.45 billion contract modification to start construction on a number of Poseidon P-8A maritime patrol aircraft for the US Navy, the UK and Norway. Under the latest contract modification, Boeing is to deliver 10 P-8As to the US Navy, four for the
The US Navy commissioned Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) in a ceremony on January 26 at Naval Air Station North Island, California. Twenty Gold Star families and four Medal of Honor recipients witnessed the second Zumwalt-class destroyer enter the fleet. The ship honors Petty
The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Module Program recently completed shipboard integration testing of two unmanned systems on board USS Independence (LCS 2). The two systems — General Dynamics-developed Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) and Textron-developed Unmanned Influence
A Los Angeles-class attack submarine and P-8A Poseidon crews from the US Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force have completed their participation in the annual, multilateral exercise Sea Dragon. This year’s exercise was conducted out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and concluded on January 22. P
Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville de Québec returned to Halifax on Monday, completing a six-month deployment with Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2). During the frigate’s deployment in European waters, an embarked CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter completed its first operational deployme
US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) arrived at its new homeport at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on January 20, completing a transit from Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. The navy did not publicize the carrier’s journey, sharing only a couple of photos of the carrier as it tr
