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
Chilean Navy frigates Almirante Cochrane, Almirante Condell and Almirante Lynch are set to undergo an obsolescence upgrade that will be undertaken by Cohort subsidiary Sea. The programme is being carried out in preparation for a major revamp of the Chilean Navy ships’ air warfare systems. The Britis
The Defence Research and Development Canada is set to test the TRAPS (Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar), a variable depth ASW sonar on Royal Canadian Navy ships. The department has contracted GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc. to deliver the systems for testing. According to GeoSpectrum, TRAPS is a to
Royal Navy Commodore Andrew Burns, commander of Amphibious Task Group embarked on the U.K.’s HMS Ocean (L 12), took command of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force (CTF) 50 in the Arabian Gulf, November 25. This marks the first time a Royal Navy officer has led a U.S. task force in the Mid
U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) is providing multi-warfare defense to the French Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group (CDG CSG) from the Eastern Mediterranean in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The strike group centered around the French aircraft carrier supports the
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
U.S. Navy’s Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Scranton (SSN 757) arrived at Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL) in her new homeport of San Diego, November 21. Scranton arrived after completing extensive maintenance at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Kittery, Maine, and three months of operatio
The carrier strike group assigned to the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson returned to San Diego after completing the composite unit training exercise and joint task force exercise (COMPTUEX/JTFEX), on November 21. During their time at sea, the unit conducted various exercises and complet
The U.S. Navy’s next-generation destroyer USS Zumwalt experienced engineering problems while transiting the Panama Canal en route to its new homeport, Defense News reported. USS Zumwalt had to be towed to a berth, the report said citing U.S. Navy. Problems likely resulted from an issue with heat exc
The U.S. Navy has shared a report of its guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) helping three Iranian mariners in distress in the Persian Gulf on November 18. According to the U.S. Navy, Nitze received notification from aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) of a small fishing
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
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract worth up to $86 million to provide management, engineering, maintenance, and IT support services for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) at Wallops Island, Virginia. Under the contract, BAE Systems will integrate various mission equipment
The F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter jets that are currently carrying out the third developmental test phase (DT-III) aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) reached a new milestone as the program completed weapons load testing on November 16. A group of the next-generation aircraft fro
U.S. Navy’s carrier strike group five (CSG 5) and its flagship USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) returned to Yokosuka, Japan, November 21 following a three-month patrol of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The strike group visited two countries, participated in three major military exercises, and hosted distin