The US Navy has signed a $2.68 billion indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for the purchase of thousands of additional APKWS laser-guided rockets, BAE Systems said. This type of a contract enables the US Navy to purchase APKWS guidance kits over a five-year period, representing f
The US Navy has unveiled names of its two newest Virginia-class (SSN 774) fast-attack nuclear submarines. As informed, the submarines will be named after the American heroes of the Greatest Generation who perished in the former USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and USS Arizona (BB-39), bringing those names back
The US Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a contract valued at $22.2 billion for the construction of nine new Virginia-class submarines. The contract also includes the option of a tenth ship to be built within the contract time frame, bringing the total potential contract value to appro
US Navy’s Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS 20) arrived at its new homeport in San Diego for the first time on November 20. The navy commissioned Cincinnati, on October 5, during a ceremony in Gulfport, Miss. The ship is the 12th LCS homeported in San Diego under the lead
A task group of ships assembled around US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Persian Gulf on November 19, following a transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with one-fifth of the world’s energy supply transitin
US shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine has started construction of the Royal Saudi Navy’s first Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ship. The “cut steel” ceremony took place on October 24. Delivered by Lockheed Martin as prime contractor, the 4,000-metric-ton MMSCs were ordered in 2017 under
The US Navy has named its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in honor of late Sen. Thad Cochran, a Navy veteran. Cochran was commissioned an ensign in the US Naval Reserve in 1959 after graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and complete
Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries hosted a keel laying ceremony for the US Navy’s first Flight III destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), on November 7. Although the official start of fabrication began in May 2018, authenticating the ship’s keel symbolically recognizes the joinin
US Navy destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87), USS Nitze (DDG 94), and USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) returned to Norfolk Naval Station on November 5, completing a seven-month deployment to the US 6th and 5th Fleet areas of operation. The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyers deployed April 1 as part of De
US Navy ships assigned to the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group trained with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Escort Division 12 in the Philippine Sea between October 24 and November 2. “Conducting bilateral exercises with the JMSDF enables both navies to continue to strengthen the uni
The Royal Australian Navy’s second air warfare destroyer HMAS Brisbane recently carried out a live missile firing using the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and remote sensor data from a US Navy destroyer. The missile firing was part of the Australian destroyer’s US East Coast combat systems
The US Navy is set to commission its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Indianapolis (LCS 17), in a ceremony in Burns Harbor, Indiana, on October 26. The future USS Indianapolis, designated LCS 17, honors Indiana’s state capital and largest city. It will be the fourth ship to bear the
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently undergoing extensive F-35B flight trials with the aim of determining the operational limits of both the ship and the fifth-generation stealth jets it is poised to operate. One of the trial evolutions included loading one of the jets with w
The Navy has now completed its transition to the P-8A Poseidon.