Pascagoula, Miss. — The future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 19) completed acceptance trials on March 12, returning to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding Division after spending two days at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. During acceptance trials, the ship’s…
HELIOS Laser Weapon Takes Step Toward Ship Integration
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy moved one step closer to integrating a laser weapon system onto an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer after successfully conducting a critical design review (CDR) for the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system, the company said in…
Ribcraft Wins $43 Million Navy Contract for Rigid Inflatables
MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — The U.S. Navy has awarded Ribcraft, a manufacturer of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) for law enforcement, safety professionals and military agencies, a five-year indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $43 million, the company said in a release. Under the contract, Ribcraft will build and…
Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma Returns Home after $12.5 Million Drug Bust
BOSTON — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma returned to Kittery, Maine, on March 12 after a 70-day counter-drug patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 1st District said in a release. Tahoma’s crew seized about 700 pounds of cocaine, valued…
SAIC Wins Award to Support Navy, Marine Corps Tactical Warfare Training
MCLEAN, Va. — SAIC has been awarded a $45.2 million follow-on contract to support the tactical warfare training of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the company said in a release. The single-award contract has a three-year period of performance. SAIC will continue providing technical and…
Textron Delivers First Next-Generation Ship-to-Shore Connector to the Navy
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Textron Systems Corp. successfully delivered its first next-generation air-cushion vehicle, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) Craft 100, to the U.S. Navy in February, the company announced. “We are proud to deliver the first of many Ship-to-Shore Connectors to the U.S. Navy,” said Henry Finneral, senior…
GE Engines to Power Four New Chamsuri II-Class Patrol Boats for Korean Navy
EVENDALE, Ohio — GE Marine’s 4.6 MW LM500 marine gas turbines will power ships 13 through 16 of the Republic of Korea Navy’s PKX-B patrol boat program, the company said in a release. The 220-ton PKX-B Chamsuri II class ships will be…
Navy Secretary to Commission Future Carrier 2030 Task Force
WASHINGTON — Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly announced that he is commissioning a Blue-Ribbon Future Carrier 2030 (FC-2030) Task Force to conduct a six-month study that will reimagine the future of the aircraft carrier and carrier-based naval aviation (manned and unmanned) for 2030 and beyond. FC-2030 will be…
Construction Begins on Bath Iron Works’ First Flight III Arleigh Burke Destroyer
BATH, Maine — Construction of the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126) officially began at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard on March 3. The milestone was marked by a ceremony at BIW’s structural fabrication facility in Brunswick, Maine, the…
Lockheed Delivers 500th F-35 Aircraft; Strike Fighter Surpasses 250,000 Flight Hours
FORT WORTH, Texas — Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office have delivered the 500th F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, the company said March 3. The F-35 surpassed 250,000 flight hours last month. The 500th production aircraft is a U.S. Air…


