The Lockheed Martin-led industry team held a keel-laying ceremony for the US Navy’s 23rd Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The keel for the 12th Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, future USS Cooperstown, was laid on August 14 in a ceremony held at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. E
US president Donald J. Trump has signed a $717 billion National Defense Authorization Act under which the US Navy would get funds for a total of 13 new vessels. Signed by the president at a ceremony at Fort Drum, New York, August 13, the NDAA includes funds for three littoral combat ships, a fourth
The US Navy has called off the search for a Marine who was reported missing from amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) on August 9. The Marine, assigned to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked aboard USS Essex, is presumed dead after the US Navy announced the end of search and rescue effo
Sailors aboard the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) concluded participation in exercise Reliant Mermaid 2018, a maritime search and rescue and anti-terrorism force protection exercise on August 8, 2018. The drill, hosted by the Israel Defense Forces, is desi
The Canadian government has awarded Chantier Davie, of Lévis, Quebec, a CA$610 million contract to deliver three converted icebreakers to the Canadian Coast Guard. Under the contract, Davie is to acquire three medium commercial icebreakers and prepare them for coast guard service. The first vessel i
US shipbuilder Ingalls Industries (HII) has been awarded an advance planning contract for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). As informed, the RCOH is scheduled to begin in January 2021. The contract, which is init
Australian Navy ships and personnel are continuing their Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2018 (IPE18) deployment after concluding exercise Rim of the Pacific off Hawaii in early August. Landing helicopter dock ship HMAS Adelaide and frigate HMAS Toowoomba – along with a platoon of Australian soldiers from 2R
MV-22 Osprey pilots tested rolling landing and takeoffs on the flight deck of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) earlier this month. The testing took place a month after Bell Boeing received a contract to build the first 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the US Navy. The CMV-22B Osprey
Base Los Angeles-Long Beach welcomed the US Coast Guard’s first California-based Sentinel-Class fast response cutter on August 11. USCGC Forrest Rednour arrived in San Pedro, Los Angeles, where the crew will begin training to become certified in law enforcement and rescue operations. The Forrest Red
Shipbuilder Austal has authenticated the keel for the US Navy’s eleventh Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport ship in a ceremony at its Mobile, Alabama shipyard. A keel laying is the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction, as the keel is the symbolic backbone of a ship. The
Mexico is buying an 8-cell MK56 VLS launcher and Evolved Seasparrow Missiles (ESSM) for its new Sigma corvette, a US Defense Security Cooperation Agency statement has said. According to the statement, The US State Department approved a possible sale of six Evolved Seasparrow tactical missiles (ESSM)
After dropping off the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in North Carolina, nearly 1,200 sailors aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) entered their homeport of Mayport, Florida, on August 9. USS Iwo Jima returned from a six-month deployment to the US 5th and US 6t
US Navy sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 teamed up with Australian Army personnel to begin the biennial unit level training event, Pyrocrab, on US Naval Base Guam August 6. The training focuses on building closer relationships be
While the first of the US Navy’s next-generation ballistic missile submarines is still scheduled to start construction in fiscal year 2021, navy officials are assessing potential delays in the Columbia-class submarine program after faulty welding was discovered on prefabricated missile tubes. In add
