The US State Department has approved sales of MK 54 lightweight torpedoes to the Royal Canadian Navy and SM-2 Block IIIB Standard missiles to the Republic of Korea Navy. The potential sale of lightweight torpedoes to Canada would be worth an estimated $387 million. A total 425 MK 54 lightweight torp
The US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky a $1.3 billion contract for the construction and delivery of 12 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters for the US Marine Corps. The low rate initial production (LRIP) Lots 2 and 3 contract was awarded on May 17. The most powerful helicopter in the Depa
Two US Navy groups operate in US 5th Fleet AOP in show of force amid Iran tensions.
US Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis arrived in Norfolk on May 16, concluding a seven-month deployment which started from Bremerton, Washington. Nearly 5,000 sailors of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, led by Capt. Randy Peck, are now in Virginia, after deploying in October of last year. CSG-3,
US Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) got underway from Mayport, Florida, on May 14 after embarking over 1000 family members and friends for a tiger cruise. The tiger cruise allows family members and friends to experience life at sea with their sailors. It also marks the last phase o
US Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) and vessels from the Philippine Coast Guard conducted joint search-and-rescue exercises at sea, west of Manila, May 14. The Bertholf, a 418-foot National Security Cutter based in Alameda, California, trained with the Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessels BRP
Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Mendez Nunes broke off from the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group (CSG) as it headed for the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tension between the US and Iran. The Spanish frigate’s withdrawal from the carrier strike group was first reporte
A keel-laying ceremony for the first in a new class of US Military Sealift Command operated oilers was held at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego on May 13. Kevin Graney, NASSCO president welcomed ship namesake, Rep. John Lewis (D Ga.), and ship’s sponsor, actress Alfre Woodard who at
The US Pacific Air Forces hosted exercise Northern Edge 2019 (NE19) kicked off on and above central Alaska ranges and the Gulf of Alaska on May 13. Personnel from US military units stationed in the continental United States and from US installations in the Indo-Pacific will participate with approxim
Former US Coast Guard cutter Sherman arrived at the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 12, eight months after it was formally handed over to the South Asian country in August 2018. The ship is scheduled to be commissioned by Sri Lankan president Maithripala Yapa Sirisena in the near future. Once it
US Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and ships from its carrier strike group entered the US 5th Fleet area of operations on May 9 after transiting the Suez Canal. The Abraham Lincoln CSG (ABESCG) arrived in the Middle East a little earlier than initially planned, following an announceme
US Navy’s Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740) carried out a successful test flight of one unarmed Trident II D5 missile on May 9. On the same day, the US Air Force launched a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Both tests
The Canadian Coast Guard has awarded Vard Marine an engineering services contract for concept exploration with a focus on the coast guard’s future fleet renewal program. The work scope includes parametric concept design, feasibility studies and operational analysis, system design studies, trade-off
The US Navy is concluding its support for the search and recovery operations of the Japanese F-35A fighter jet that went missing over the Pacific, off Misawa Air Base on April 9. A US Navy salvage team aboard the contracted vessel DSCV Van Gogh completed its mission after locating debris from the do
