U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the names for two new Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in a ceremony at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 17. DDG 125, will be named Jack H. Lucas in honor of the Marine Corps hero and Medal of Honor recipient while DDG 126 would be named Louis H. Wil
The U.S. Navy is set to christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Wichita (LCS 13), during a ceremony on Saturday, September 17 in Marinette, Wisconsin. “The christening of the future USS Wichita brings this warship one step closer to joining our nation’s growing fleet,” said Ray
The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Eastern Shipbuilding Group a $110.29 million contract for the production of the lead Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and up to eight follow-on cutters. If the Coast Guard opts to build all nine cutters the contract will be worth $2.38 billion. The OPC acquisition will r
Naval units taking part in the Australian-hosted multinational maritime exercise have sailed out of Darwin to begin the sea phase of Exercise Kakadu. The ships separated into three multi-national task groups once outside the harbor and will spend the next eight days undertaking a graduated program o
The U.S. Navy has awarded Austal a $248.8 million contract for the design and construction of another two expeditionary fast transport vessels, EPF 11 and EPF 12. Austal said that this amount included contracts for long-lead time materials that were previously announced. The new contract follows a 2
Two Royal Australian Navy minehunters, HMAS Huon and HMAS Diamantina, spent the past four weeks training together before they set sail for their south-west Pacific deployment and support to operation Render Safe 16. This year’s iteration of Render Safe will be taking place in the vicinity of the Sol
U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) reached the halfway point of its Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) September 13, pierside at Naval Air Station North Island. PIA is a reoccurring part of a ship’s life cycle, scheduled approximately every 36 months. It’s
Ships assigned to the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, joined the U.S. military exercise Valiant Shield 2016, on September 15. Valiant Shield is a biennial exercise held between the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force in an effor
Millennium Corporation, a veteran-owned provider of IT professional services and technical solutions, has been awarded a contract for comprehensive systems engineering and logistics support of bussines systems for the U.S. Navy Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240). The five-year contract provides services
German Navy’s F123 frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern joined the European-led operation Sophia by taking over command of deployed German units from the German tender Werra in the Italian port of Augusta, Sicily, September 14. German soldiers and sailors participating in the Mediterranean Sea mission wil
Following a request for information (RFI) for its Squadron 2020 project to construct four ice-going offshore patrol vessels, the Finnish Navy has now signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Rauma-based shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions. If the LOI is realized, the company will build f
The European Union Council gave its final approval to the European Border and Coast Guard on September 14 and the EU now estimates the body will start its activities in mid-October. The main role of the European Border and Coast Guard is to help provide integrated border management at the external b
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is developing a new capability called the Naval Security Team (NST) that will be tasked with protecting Canadian Navy ships and sailors while on deployment. According to the navy, NST will be composed primarily of naval reservists and will include a full-time command te
The U.S. Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $19.1 million contract modification to accelerate design work on the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warfare ship replacement, known as LX(R). In the original announcement on June 30, Ingalls was selected to perform the majority of the contract design
