The CH-53K King Stallion lifts a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, January 18, 2018. The purpose of this exercise was to show the Capabilities of the CH-53K. US Marine Corps photo.
The Department of the Navy awarded Sikorsky a $1.13-billion contract for 12 CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters, the Defense Department announced on Friday. Read More
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) conducts a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8) on April 12, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy is struggling to find support to buy new logistics ships, even as a new study finds the Navy’s current plans to recapitalize that logistics fleet are insufficient to support distributed operations in a high-end fight against China or Russia. Read More
Vice Adm. William Merz, middle, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, is greeted by Capt. John Cummings, right, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), after being rung aboard for an official visit on April 22, 2019. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy believes it is almost out of the readiness hole it found itself in over the last few years, and budget requests going forward will be marked by an attempt to balance readiness, capability and capacity. Read More
Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MDUSV) prototype Sea Hunter pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Oct. 31, 2018. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy has tightly coupled early prototyping efforts and future acquisition efforts for medium and large unmanned surface vehicles, to speed up the time it will take to experiment with the vessels and get them fielded to fleet commanders, the program manager said last week. Read More
U.S. Navy F-18F Super Hornets, assigned with Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., park on the flight line prior to Exercise Northern Edge, May 10, 2019, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Northern Edge is an exercise showcasing the lethality of joint forces and the capabilities of U.S. forces in and around the Indo-Pacific region. US Air Force photo.
An aircraft carrier is in Alaska for Exercise Northern Edge for the first time in a decade, as the service continues to prioritize re-learning how to operate in the Arctic. Read More
USS Washington (SSN-787). HII Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Virginia-class attack submarine program office is in the early stages of determining what its Block VI design might look like and what payloads it would need to accommodate, the program manager said last week. Read More
The amphibious dock landing ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) transit in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Murtha and Momsen are underway conducting routine operations as a part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group in the eastern Pacific Ocean. US Navy photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy is committed to upgrading its amphibious ships to support the Navy and Marines’ new way of operating and to leverage the power of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, but it’s still unclear when dollars will start flowing to pay for these upgrades to communications and command and control systems. Read More
An Air Force F-35A in Australia on March 30, 2019. US Air Force
THE PENTAGON — The Defense Department is seeking alternate suppliers for parts of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter currently provided by Turkish companies, as Turkey’s pursuit of a Russian air defense system threatens its continued participation in the jet program. Read More
Sailors stand watch in the Fleet Operations Center at the headquarters of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet. U.S. Fleet Cyber Command (US Navy photo)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy by next month will have an idea of what its proposed assistant secretary of the Navy for information management office would look like, after an ongoing study to define the new office and its mission wraps up, the undersecretary of the Navy told USNI News. Read More
Artist’s rendering of the Columbia-class SSBN submarine. US Navy Image
This post has been updated to correctly state that the first patrol will begin in October 2030 and that design disclosures are on track to be 83 percent complete at the start of construction.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy will have the most complete design ever and will be well into construction when the “official start” of construction on the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine occurs on Oct. 1, 2020, the service’s program manager said. Read More
