Fincantieri FFG(X) Design based on the FREMM. Fincantieri Image
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Navy.
The Navy awarded a $795-million contract to Fincantieri to begin building a new class of guided-missile frigates, in the first new major shipbuilding program the service has started in more than a decade, the Navy announced today. 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
Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, addresses her remarks to President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence, during the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Meeting on March 6, 2019. White House Photo
Marillyn Hewson is stepping down as chief executive of Lockheed Martin after running the defense contractor since 2014.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41 sits chocked and chained on the flight deck aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) on Aug. 24, 2018. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy wants to truncate production of the legacy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in favor of pumping money into accelerating the development of its long-gestating next-generation carrier-based fighter program, the service revealed in its Fiscal Year 2021 budget request. Read More
Artist’s concept of a hypersonic vehicle. DARPA Photo
The Navy will focus in 2020 on developing hypersonic weapons at breakneck speed, with testing to occur throughout the year, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said Friday in a message to the fleet.
An artist’s conception of a Raytheon’s SPY-6 radar on a Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer. Raytheon Image
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy is considering adding the AN/SPY-6 radar to legacy Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers along with the new Baseline 10 Aegis Combat System developed for the next-generation Flight III destroyers, service officials said on Wednesday. Read More
Littoral combat ship Little Rock (LCS 9) is underway during a high-speed run in Lake Michigan during acceptance trials. Lockheed Martin Photo
The Navy will put a laser weapon on a Littoral Combat Ship for the first time this year, amid efforts to boost the LCS’s lethality and to develop and field a family of laser systems. Read More
Artist’s concept of a Lockheed Martin Multi-Mission Surface Combatant. US Navy
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.96 billion detailed design and construction to build four warships for Saudi Arabia, according to a Friday contract announcement. 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
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy is unclear how it will proceed with its next generation of aviation combatants following the introduction of the F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter into the carrier air wing, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Thursday. Read More
By agreeing to a second short-term spending bill early in Fiscal Year 2020, Congress and President Donald Trump will keep government agencies open for another month, a move the defense industry says is better than the alternative, but not a great long-term strategy. Read More
