The U.S. Coast Guard received the 20th fast response cutter (FRC), named after Lawrence Lawson, in Florida, October 20. The Coast Guard said the ship would be the second FRC stationed in Cape May, New Jersey, and is scheduled for commissioning in early 2017. The service also noted that the ship was
Lockheed Martin has awarded a $6.6 million contract to Ultra Electronics’ subsidiary Ocean Systems for work on the U.S. Navy’s MK 48 torpedo. Under the contract, Ocean Systems will work on the torpedo array nose assembly as well as engineering services and spares. Options to extend the contract for
Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, Detroit (LCS 7), became the newest LCS to join the U.S. Navy fleet during an October 22 ceremony in Detroit. USS Detroit, the fourth Freedom-variant in the LCS class, completed acceptance trials in July and was delivered to the U.S. Navy on August 12. It joins t
Aircraft can once again take off from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) after the ship earned the flight deck certification while underway in the Pacific Ocean, October 20. The certification proves Nimitz’s flight deck and the sailors who conduct flight operations are capable of saf
U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) took part in a passing exercise (PASSEX) with a ship from the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea as it departed Constanta, Romania, October 20. Mount Whitney participated in a minesweeping exercise with Romanian Navy corvette Admi
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has contracted Canadian OSI Maritime Systems to supply two integrated bridge systems (IBS) to the Royal Australian Navy for the AOR (auxiliary oiler replenishment) program. The IBS is based on OSI’s warship INTS (integrated navigation & tactical system) design which OSI
The U.S. Navy said its future guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) successfully completed Alpha trials on October 18, after spending two days underway off the coast of Maine. The trials were conducted by shipbuilder Bath Iron Works (BIW), a subsidiary of General Dynamics. Alpha tria
Minehunters from the US and UK kicked off the mine countermeasures exercise 17-1 in the Persian Gulf with a photographic exercise formation on October 19. The bilateral exercise encompassed the full spectrum of mine countermeasures (MCM) from mine detection and identification to mine clearance with
Senior lawyers from the US Navy and the Royal Navy met at the stone frigate HMS Excellent for formal joint talks concerning aircraft carrier operations. With the Royal Navy on the cusp of returning to ‘big deck’ aircraft carrier operations when HMS Queen Elizabeth joins the fleet next year, it is ke
The U.S. Navy is currently modifying its Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) to make it capable of deploying the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Scheduled to be completed in March 2017, Essex will be the third big-deck platform to feature the upgrades and will be the first to do a
U.S. Navy’s helicopter mine countermeasures squadron (HM) 15 carried out annual airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) training at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) for almost two weeks earlier in October. HM-15’s annual helicopter advanced readiness program (HARP) HAWKEX t
The U.S. Navy has awarded Austal USA a contract to provide engineering and management services support of the Post Shakedown Availability for the Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10). The US$12 million cost-plus-award-fee order is seen as a boost to the company
Australian naval officers recently graduated from a two month Aegis combat systems course at the Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) in New Jersey, United States. The officers learned to use the Aegis Combat System that is installed onboard the RAN’s newest Air Warfare Destroyer, the
Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Vancouver arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, October 18 to conduct a goodwill visit as part of Westploy 16. Westploy 16 is HMCS Vancouver’s deployment aimed at building strong ties between the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the navies of Asia-Pacific countries while also
