USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) in 2015. USS Navy Photo
After 46 years of disaster relief, civilian evacuations, troop transports, fleet protection, and the first use of a laser weapon, USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) was removed from active service during a ceremony over the weekend. Read More
Sailors and civilian contractors assigned to Commander, Task Group (CTG) 56.1 aboard a rigid-hull inflatable boat carrying underwater unmanned vehicles are craned onto the ship during mine countermeasure training operations aboard the Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) in 2015. US Navy Photo
The converted amphibious warship that served as an experimental platform for special operations forces, minehunting helicopters and the Navy’s first operational laser weapon is back in the U.S. after more than five years operating in the Middle East. Read More
The Military Sealift Command expeditionary mobile base USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) departs Naval Station Norfolk to begin its first operational deployment on July 10, 2017. Puller is deploying to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. Navy and allied military efforts in the region. US Navy photo.
The Navy will re-designate its first Expeditionary Landing Base ship a warship this week, converting the Military Sealift Command ship USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) into USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) so it can better meet operational needs abroad, USNI News has learned. Read More
The Military Sealift Command Expeditionary Fast Transport USNS Millinocket (EPF-3) arrives in Vietnam on Aug. 17, 2015. US Navy photo.
The Auxiliary Platforms and Payloads Council at the Pentagon has focused its efforts on using the Expeditionary Fast Transport for Marines’ afloat command and control requirements, as well as looking at technical enablers to allow Marines to operate from the Littoral Combat Ship, the head of the amphibious warfare branch said last week. Read More
The expeditionary mobile base Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) successfully completed launch and float-off at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) shipyard on Nov. 6, 2014. US Navy Photo
ONBOARD USNS LEWIS B. PULLER – The Navy’s newest Afloat Forward Staging Base may include special operations capabilities when it makes its maiden voyage to the Middle East in late 2016 or early 2017, if the Navy chooses to make the much-desired upgrades to the ship after a year-long test and certification period.
A Landing Craft Air Cushion is launched from the Military Sealift Command mobile landing platform USNS Montford Point (MLP 1) during Pacific Horizon 2015. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to include additional information regarding the ship naming action memo from the chief of naval operations to the Navy secretary.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus redesignated three new ship classes to give them more traditional three-letter names. Read More
A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) enters the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) on June 6, 2015. Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford said the Marines can no longer rely on traditional amphibious operations in the Pacific and will instead have to consider alternate operations models and new platforms. US Navy photo.
Marines will have to continue to be adaptable to meet growing threats with limited resources by fundamentally rethinking how the Marine Corps organizes and operates, commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford said on Thursday. Read More
An MV-22 Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163, Reinforced, approaches the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) to transport an AV-8B Harrier jet engine to the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) during a replenishment-at-sea in October 2014. US Navy photo.
The Marine Corps is experimenting with the interoperability of its Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs) with various non-traditional platforms, including rarely-used 1980s logistics ships and foreign navies’ amphibious ships, to help get its land-based units back out to sea. Read More
North Dakota (SSN 784) is rolled out of an indoor shipyard facility at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. US Navy Photo
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to $138 million in advance procurement funding as going towards the T-AO(X) fleet oiler replacement program. That funding supports the Moored Training Ship program instead. The reference has been deleted.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee released its Fiscal Year 2016 funding bill today, making some trims to Navy shipbuilding programs but adding in funding for seven EA-18G Growlers and an Afloat Forward Staging Base. Read More
An MV-22 Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163, Reinforced, approaches the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) to transport an AV-8B Harrier jet engine to the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) during a replenishment-at-sea in October 2014. US Navy photo.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy has stood up an Auxiliary Platforms and Payloads Council at the Pentagon to look at “new, innovative methods to fulfill the missions” the Navy and Marine Corps struggle to efficiently meet with current platforms, director of expeditionary warfare Maj. Gen. Robert Walsh said Tuesday. Read More
