Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, directed the activation of the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) Nov. 13 to be ready to support ongoing disaster relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. Berthed in San Diego, USNS Mercy has been in a reduced ope
The operating area for NATO’s counter-terrorism task group, Standing NATO Maritime Group TWO (SNMG2), covers 2.5 million square kilometres of vast open space from Gibraltar to the Suez Canal, from the shores of Tripoli to the Turkish beaches. A NATO maritime force tasked with covering so much water
Continuing his goal to keep Florida the most military-friendly state in the nation, Governor Rick Scott today announced that the National Center for Simulation, located at Naval Support Activity Orlando, has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Florida Defense Support Task Force. The funding will
Maritime forces from the United States, 10 East African and two European nations, along with several international organizations, commenced the multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express 2013, Nov. 11. Exercise Cutlass Express 2013, held in several operational areas in waters off East Africa, i
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) returned to Naval Station Norfolk Nov. 8, after completing a nine-month deployment. The ship departed for the U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) area of responsibility Feb. 7, where she supported the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) mission and ma
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group reentered the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) after transiting the Suez Canal, Nov. 8. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), along with embarked Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11, Carrier Air Wing 11, and Destroyer Squadron 23, spent nearly three weeks in
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has formally established a Regional Maintenance Center detachment in Rota, Spain, to support the destroyers scheduled to be homeported in the area, the command announced Nov. 7. The detachment will provide management, industrial, engineering, technical and contract
In an effort to stem work-related injuries and speed the assembly of munitions aboard aircraft carriers, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) spearheaded the development of a more efficient and ergonomic way to build bombs at sea, officials announced Nov. 6. The ONR-sponsored improvements will allow S
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected AeroVironment, Inc. to provide its expertise in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) toward the development of a new category of this technology. AeroVironment will work as the prime contractor with DARPA on the Tactically Exploited
Dogu Akdeniz, an annual Turkish-led naval training exercise, began Nov. 4. USS Stout (DDG 55) was invited to participate in this year’s exercise, hosted by Commander, Turkish Fleet, with forces from the Turkish coast guard, Turkish air force and ships from Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2). Led
Naval forces from India and the United States will participate in exercise Malabar 2013, Nov. 5 – 11. Malabar is a regularly scheduled bilateral naval field training exercise and has grown in scope and complexity over the years. Malabar 2013 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises conducte
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat an $18.2 million contract modification to perform reactor-plant planning yard services for nuclear submarines and supportyard services for moored training ships. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. Initially awarded
Raytheon Company and its Japanese partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have completed the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA guided missile Critical Design Review (CDR). The CDR verified that the missile’s design will meet the stringent, specific operational performance requirements necessary to d
Huntington Ingalls Industries announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share, an increase of $0.10 or 100 percent over the $0.10 per share dividend paid in each of the four prior quarters. The $0.20 per share dividend will be payable on Dec. 13,
