In conjunction with the Missile Defense Agency, guided-missile cruisers USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) and USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), along with guided-missile destroyers USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) and USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), successfully executed a live-fire missile exercise off the coast of North Caro
The U.S. Navy has awarded Bell Helicopter a $423.4 million contract modification ordering more AH-1Z new build helicopters. Under this modification, Bell Helicopter will manufacture and deliver 25 Lot 14 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters in support of the H-1 upgrade program the Marine Corps is underta
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) joined over 2,800 service personnel from Romania, Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine for the at-sea portion of exercise Sea Shield on February 8. Sea Shield is an annual, Romania-led multinational exercise
U.S. Coast Guard cutter Diligence returned home to Coast Guard station Wilmington on Tuesday after intercepting nearly 2,500 kilograms of cocaine during a 62-day patrol in the Eastern Pacific. The Diligence crew patrolled in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South in the Eastern Pa
The U.S. Navy awarded Bell Helicopter Textron a $49 million contract for the procurement of long-lead items and components for the AH-1Z aircraft. The contract covers the acquisition of components for 27 Lot 15 AH-1Z helicopters that are used in the U.S. Marine Corps. Bell Helicopter will perform th
U.S. Navy’s future expeditionary fast transport USNS Yuma (EPF 8) completed acceptance trials January 26 after two days of underway evaluation in the Gulf of Mexico, the navy announced on February 7. The ship returned to the Austal USA shipyard after demonstrating the readiness of its equipment and
U.S. Navy’s guided-missile cruiser USS Hue City (CG 66), currently part of the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group, entered the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda, Lithuania, February 6 for a scheduled port visit. During their visit Hue City’s sailors will have the opportunity to engage with members of t
General Dynamics delivered the 65th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) to the U.S. Navy on February 3. DDG 115 is the second Flight IIA restart ship to be delivered to the navy and the first to be built at Bath Iron Works since the program was restarted in 2010. DDG 115 follo
Sailors from the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) arrived in Hong Kong, Feb. 5, for a port visit during a routine patrol in the 7th Fleet area of operations. Hopper is deployed to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and sails with a crew of approximately 300 sai
Navy ships from Australia, Great Britain, France and the U.S. concluded their participation in the multi-national exercise Unified Trident that was held in the Persian Gulf. More than 15 ships, plus numerous aircraft from the four navies completed many different evolutions from January 31 to Februar
U.S. Navy sailors and marines assigned to amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) completed the final phase of combat systems ship qualifications trials (CSSQT) and follow-on operation testing of the ship’s weapons systems February 2. Command, control, computers, communications, combat and intel
U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Coronado on February 3 entered Sembawang Wharves in Singapore for a scheduled maintenance period following a four-day underway in the South China Sea. At sea the crew conducted training exercises designed to maintain operational proficiency while executing emerge
During a December 2016 test at China Lake, the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center’s Weapons Division-developed Spike missile, twice, demonstrated the capability of the missile to shoot down an Outlaw UAV with one shot. Spike is a forward-firing miniature munition that can be launched from the ground or t
U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) entered the Black Sea on February 2 on a routine Black Sea deployment. On her first Black Sea port visit, USS Porter arrived in Constanta, Romania, on February 3. “It’s always a privilege to visit the welcoming city of Cons
