The U.S. Navy has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation for the initial phase of the Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) program. SSL-TM is a research and development project to mature solid-state, high-power laser weapon systems and components for ship defense. This selection is the fi
Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, visited Sailors aboard guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) while the ship was moored at Khalifa Bin Salman, Bahrain, for a scheduled port visit, May 16. Secretary Mabus visited Bahrain to visit Sailors and Marines stationed or deployed to the region. He also
The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Ford (FFG 54) completed exercise Trident Fury, returning to her homeport of Naval Station Everett, May 14. Exercise Trident Fury is a biennial joint and multinational naval training exercise led by the Royal Canadian navy and is designed to pr
The US Navy’s bottlenose dolphins have discovered the so-called Howell torpedo off Coronado, San Diego County, according to the Los Angeles Times. The torpedo has been discovered near the Hotel del Coronado. Mike Rothe, who heads the marine mammal program, said that they had never found anything lik
Lockheed Martin Corp., Mission Systems and Training located in Moorestown, NJ. has been awarded a USD 24.07 million modification contract to exercise an option for Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent efforts for the design, development, integration, test and delivery of computer program baselines
Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Minnesota (SSN 783), the nation’s newest and most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarine, moored May 16 at Huntington Ingalls Industry’s Newport News Shipbuilding following its successful completion of Alpha and Bravo sea trials. Testing evolutions completed during Al
More than 40,000 active-duty service members, retirees and civilians from the Pacific Northwest gathered in Bremerton, Wash. to watch the 65th annual Armed Forces Day Parade May 18. The parade was presented by the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce as part of the city’s Armed Forces Festival to pay tribu
Guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), with a crew of approximately 300 Sailors, anchored in Shimoda, May 16 to participate in the city’s 74th annual Black Ship Festival. The festival promotes the peaceful relations between the Japanese and American people and commemorates the 159th anniv
The Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) has begun touch and go landing operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) May 17. For UCAS-D, this represents the most significant technology maturation of the program. Ship relative navigation and precision
Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pa., is being awarded a $296,442,784 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-2121) for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pa. (71.59 percent) and Schenectady, N.Y. (28.41 percent)
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) successfully conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, resulting in the intercept of a separating ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean by the Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapon Sys
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has been awarded a contract by Austal USA to be the Platform Systems Engineering Agent (PSEA) of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) 14 and 16. These are the fifth and sixth ships of the Independence-variant LCS to be ordered by the U.S. Navy under a 10-ship blo
U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today applauded a decision by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to use flexibility to further minimize the furloughs of Defense Department personnel and to avoid them altogether at Navy shipyards, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. For months, S
The forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) hosted four Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, May 13. UFC fighters Anthony Njokuani, Todd Duffee, Matt Brown and Kurt Shrout toured the ship’s hangar bay, flight deck and navigation bridge learning about shipboard oper
