Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 2nd Class Christian Smania cleans a cover plate for a wire supporter on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on April 14, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy has secured enough COVID-19 testing kits to evaluate the almost 8,000 sailors set to deploy on the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group later this year, USNI News has learned. Read More
USS America (LHA-6), left, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) transit the South China Sea on April 18, 2020. US Navy Photo
Beijing is downplaying the presence of U.S. warships operating near an international maritime dispute between China and Malaysia in the South China Sea, Chinese officials said during a Tuesday briefing with reporters. Read More
A U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II, attached to Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing, the ‘Argonauts’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, completes a flight over Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Feb. 1, 2019. US Navy Photo
COVID-19 is slowing F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter production because of supply chain disruptions caused by national and international attempts to stop the spread of the sickness, prime contractor Lockheed Martin said Tuesday. Read More
P-8 Poseidon in Seattle Factory. Boeing photo.
The shipbuilding, aviation and small space launch sectors are the three hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic within the defense industrial base, according to the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, despite a slew of memos and authorities signed out by the Pentagon to relieve pressure from sick workers and facilities closures. Read More
Russian SU-35 during an intercept of a U.S. P-8A over the Mediterranean Sea. US Navy Image
A Russian fighter came within 25 feet of a Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft over the in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, U.S. 6th Fleet announced. Read More
Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) depart the ship to move to off-ship berthing on April 10, 2020. US Navy Photo
To better refine how the Navy fights COVID-19, the service and the Center for Disease Control are mounting a study see how the virus spread aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). Read More
Equipment Operator 3rd Class Tyler Dowling, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5, speaks with Capt. Eric Correll, Commander, Task Force 75 during Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) site preparations on April 16, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy reported 1,017 active duty COVID-19 cases throughout the fleet, the service announced on Friday. Of those, infected sailors on USS Theodore Roosevelt account for the majority of the Navy’s active duty cases. Read More
Tripoli (LHA-7) is launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. on March 1, 2017. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s acquisition community is trying to “leverage the condition we’re in, not be a victim of it,” with the service’s top buyer saying he’s confident his workforce can take unexpected lessons learned adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic and actually be more efficient in the long term. Read More
Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding Division contractors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conduct phase 2 testing on a lower stage weapons elevator on Feb. 27, 2020. This testing marks another milestone in the certification of Gerald R. Ford’s Advanced Weapons Elevators. US Navy photo.
The Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding have finished building and testing the first lower elevator on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and will soon announce it’s been certified and turned over to the crew. Read More
Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr.
The first sailor to die of COVID-19 was a chief petty officer assigned to USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), the Navy announced on Thursday. Read More
