A Navy team sent to the Bahamas has found the missing U.S. merchant ship SS El Faro, officials have confirmed. Read More

A Navy team sent to the Bahamas has found the missing U.S. merchant ship SS El Faro, officials have confirmed. Read More
The Navy has accepted the third Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship Milwaukee (LCS-5) in a Friday ceremony, the service announced. Read More
At the request of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Navy is scrambling a ship and an underwater search team to find the missing merchant ship SS El Faro, Navy officials told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Helena (SSN-725) arrives at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a high-priority docking continuous maintenance availability on Aug. 20, 2015. US Navy Photo
Public naval shipyards are working closely with private repair yards to coordinate workforce needs as the Navy navigates a peak of aircraft carrier and submarine work this fiscal year followed by a dip in work shortly after, the Naval Sea Systems Command’s deputy commander for logistics, maintenance and industrial operations told a House Armed Services Committee panel Thursday. Read More
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Dry Dock 1 is flooded during the undocking of USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) in May 2010. US Navy photo.
SAN DIEGO – Public shipyards are on track to reach 33,500 full-time equivalent employees by February, thanks to a hiring spree meant to get the yards back on track after both sequestration and a high attrition rate eroded workforce capacity. Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) leads a formation of ships from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 during a maneuvering exercise on Sept. 23, 2014. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO – The Navy is nine months into its new deployment model – the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) – designed to keep carrier strike groups from unexpectedly long deployments and allow time for needed ship upkeep.
The plan promises to make life more predictable for sailors and maintainers, but service officials are already running into roadblocks that, if not addressed by Navy leadership and Congress, could exacerbate gaps in overseas carrier presence and further burden the maintenance community. Read More
Water is drained from a dry dock at U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF JRMC) Yokosuka preparing the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) for a scheduled maintenance availability in July 2015. US Navy photo.
SAN DIEGO – The Navy’s maintenance and operational communities have completed the first iterations of a surface ship master plan for maintenance and modernization work, in the hopes of balancing out peaks and valleys in shipyard workload without impacting operational needs. Read More
An SM-3 Block 1B interceptor is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70) during a Missile Defense Agency test in 2013. MDA Photo
A recent change in how the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) counts ballistic missile defense (BMD) ships lowers projected future totals from what the agency estimated in its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request to Congress, USNI News has learned. Read More
Reserve component Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operational Support Unit 7 use a Man Transportable Robot System “Talon” Mark 2 to approach a suspected bomb maker’s building during a mobility exercise at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in March 2012. AEODRS Increment 2 is meant to replace this system. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Navy regarding the fielding timelines of all three AEODRS variants.
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is moving forward with its Advance Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System (AEODRS) tactical operations variant, the middle of three sizes, after approving the system to go into engineering and manufacturing development phase earlier this month. Read More
The resulting fire on USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) following the explosion of a SM-2 Block IIIA guided missile. US Navy Photo obtained by USNI News
The guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) suffered only cosmetic damage following the unexpected explosion of a SM-2 missile shortly after launch on July 18, Navy officials told USNI News on Thursday. Read More