Royal Navy auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Mounts Bay served as the test bed for a mobile US Navy minehunting force during a recent test off the coast of Virginia. The test included helicopters, divers, remote-controlled boats and automated surveying machines and was intended to see whether a task f
The lead ship of the US Navy’s new class of aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), will return to operations three months later than originally planned, in part due to issues related to ship’s nuclear propulsion plant. News of the delay comes amid the confirmation of a US Navy plan to r
US Navy’s sixth Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named in honor of Korean War veteran, and Navy Cross Recipient, Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal, the US Navy secretary has announced. Neal, a native of Springfield, Ohio, served with Helicopter Utility Squadron ONE (
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Australia-based shipbuilder Austal a $261.7 million contract for additional work on Expeditionary Fast Transport Ships (EPF) 13 and 14. The contract award extends the EPF program to 2022, with construction of EPF 13 to commence in late 2019 and EPF 14 to
US Navy ships from the Japan-based US 7th Fleet took part in what the navy termed the most advanced tactical training necessary for blue water combat. For the first time ever, three guided missile destroyers, a guided missile cruiser, and two amphibious ships of the Forward-Deployed Naval Forces com
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Boeing a $4 billion contract for the procurement of 78 Super Hornet aircraft. The contract for the The Block III configuration aircraft is a multi-year procurement (MYP) of 72 between fiscal years 2019-2021, and six from fiscal year 2018. Navy officials e
The US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $2 billion contract modification to procure long lead time material to support construction of Block V Virginia-class submarines. The award modifies a contract awarded in 2017 that provides funding for long lead time mater
The US Navy’s fifth Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient, Hospital Corpsman Master Chief William Charette, US Navy secretary Richard V. Spencer has announced. Charette, a native of Ludington, Michigan, joined the Navy in 1951 and served in the K
US 5th Fleet’s Task Force 55 and commercial shipping industry representatives joined forces recently to complete exercise Lucky Mariner 19. The annual exercise concluded March 15 and was led by the task force’s Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS) detachment designed to exercise comma
US Navy’s Ohio-class cruise missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) arrived in Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, for a scheduled port visit on March 14. While the Kings Bay, Georgia, homeported USS Florida is on a routine deployment in the US 6th Fleet area of operations, it is rare for the
US shipbuilder Ingalls Shipbuilding held a keel-laying ceremony for the US Navy’s third America-class amphibious warship Bougainville (LHA 8) in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on March 14. Ship’s sponsor Ellyn Dunford declared the keel “truly and fairly laid” after her initials were welded onto a plate. T
Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Mana has arrived in Canada to start her combat management system upgrades. The ship pulled into Canadian forces base Esquimalt on March 12 and will be modernized at Seaspan’s shipyard in Victoria, British Columbia. Te Mana is starting the upgrade after complet
US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) returned to Naval Station Rota, Spain, after completing its eighth forward-deployed naval forces (FDNF) patrol of Europe and Africa. Donald Cook began its patrol Nov. 17, 2018 to conduct naval operations in the US 6th Fl
The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a $322.5 million contract for the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) program. AARGM-ER program is leveraging the AARGM that is currently in production. The extended rang
