ARLINGTON, Va. — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has announced that the president has made two flag officer nominations: Navy Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti for reappointment to the grade of vice admiral with assignment as director for strategy, plans,…
Coast Guard Crew Offloads 26,000+ Pounds of Cocaine, Marijuana Worth $390 Million
SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750) offloaded more than 26,000 pounds of seized cocaine and marijuana in San Diego, Sept. 10, the Coast Guard 11th District said in a release. The drugs, worth an…
Austal USA Completes Purchase of Dry Dock in Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA has completed the purchase of waterfront land, buildings, and an existing dry dock along the Mobile River previously owned by World Marine of Alabama, an indirect subsidiary of Modern American Recycling and Repair Services (M.A.R.R.S.)…
Auto-Carrying Ship Could Usher in Era of Sustainable Shipping
Could the solution for achieving truly sustainable shipping be blowing in the wind, literally? The Oceanbird, an automobile-carrying cargo ship, may soon be sailing to a port near you on a stiff breeze. Swedish shipping company Wallenius Marine leading a study…
Marines to Operate Armed Reaper UAS in ‘Coming Months’
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps plans to deploy armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in the “coming months,” the Navy’s program executive officer for Unmanned and Strike Weapons (PEO-UMW) said. “The MQ-9 Reaper provides increased lethality to the Marine Air-Ground…
Navy Asking Industry for Ideas to Meet Increased Range for UAVs
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s acquisition official for unmanned aerial systems said he is looking for ideas to meet a new requirement that has come down from regional combatant commanders (COCOMs). “Now we have a new demand coming from…
Navy Looking at Upgrades to RQ-21 UAS
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is planning a series of upgrades to the Boeing Insitu-built RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial system, an acquisition official said. “We’re continuing to look at upgrades for the system,” said Rear Adm. Brian Corey, program executive officer –…
Navy’s First Two Textron SSCs ‘Fly Away’ to Panama City
NEW ORLEANS, LA. – Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, announced Sept. 9 the successful fly-away of its first two next-generation air cushion vehicles, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) Craft 100 and LCAC 101, on Sept. 2. The two craft departed Textron…
Wider Development of Unmanned Systems Must Consider Navy’s Global Scale, Geurts Says
ARLINGTON, Va. — One of the big challenges facing the U.S. Navy in the future deployment of unmanned systems is how to obtain and use them effectively on a global scale, the Navy’s top acquisition official says. Unmanned systems are already…
U.S. Pacific Fleet to Conduct Unmanned Fleet Battle Problem in 2021 to ‘Drive Lethality’
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet is planning a Fleet Battle Problem next year that will feature unmanned systems in air, surface, and undersea domains, a Navy admiral announced, noting that “an unmanned Fleet Battle Problem is a…
