USS Preble (DDG-88) conducts an operational Tomahawk missile launch while underway in a training area off the coast of California in 2010. US Navy photo.
The Navy is finding new uses for old defensive systems in an effort to both add offensive lethality to its ships and to better protect ships against evolving global threats, several admirals said Tuesday. Read More
USS Barry (DDG=52) fires Tomahawk cruise missiles in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 11, 2011. US Navy Photo
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) has long been a mainstay of the U.S. strike weapon inventory. Launching from ranges out to 1,000 miles and armed with a 1,000-pound warhead, it is the Navy’s “Kick Down the Door” weapon, attacking well-defended high-value land targets. The BLK IV missile is the latest variant in a steady progression of capability, incorporating mission planning, navigation and guidance, and command and control upgrades designed to improve responsiveness and target flexibility. Combat-proven and operationally reliable, Tomahawk remains a weapon of choice for planners and commanders alike. The FY 2016 budget maintains production and inventory levels, reflecting a continued high demand signal. Read More
An EA-18G Growler from the “Shadowhawks” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) during a 2013 exercise with the Australian Defence Force. US Navy Photo
The Navy is working with the Australian Department of Defence to improve a component of the EA-18G Growler avionics suite to help locate and jam enemy communications. Read More
The first grand blocks of the future USS John Finn (DDG 113) are erected on the building ways at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Miss. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The Navy and two shipbuilders are moving forward with the Flight III upgrade to the Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51), which adds an air and missile defense radar to the ship class starting this fiscal year. Read More
The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) launches a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s aegis weapons system on June 19, 2014. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Navy.
The Navy’s surface ship weapons office is developing software to bring additional mission sets to the Standard Missile-6 surface-to-air missile, which may be ready for fielding in the next year or two. Read More
A Lockheed Martin concept for variations of the Freedom-class LCS design from corvette to Frigate sized hulls. Lockheed Martin Photo
Saudi Arabia is leaning toward buying a variant of the Lockheed Martin Littoral Combat Ship as a key component of a long-awaited multi-billion dollar refresh of its Eastern Fleet in a deal that could close as early as year’s end, according to press reports confirmed by USNI News. Read More
The guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) sits moored in Rota, Spain on June 9, 2015. US Navy photo.
The four ballistic missile defense destroyers patrolling 6th Fleet will get a self-protection upgrade beginning this year, as the Navy integrates Raytheon’s Sea Rolling Airframe Missile (SeaRAM) onto its Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG-51) for the first time. 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
A Tomahawk cruise missile hits a moving maritime target Jan. 27 after being launched from the USS Kidd (DDG-100) near San Nicolas Island in California. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Raytheon’s Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) will be a likely competitor in the Navy’s search for a next generation anti-ship missile to replace the 1980s era weapons widely in use in the service, the deputy chief of naval operations warfare systems (N9) said Wednesday. Read More
Anti-Submarine Warfare Package. Government Accountability Office Graphic
The Navy’s quest to cut weight from the planned Littoral Combat Ship anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package is neither the result of weight gain in the planned systems nor a new requirement of the program, Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News. Read More
