ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy plans to put two Virginia-class attack submarines in commission in April despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ceremonies marking the events will be delayed. “Due to public health safety and restrictions on large public events, the commissioning ceremonies…
USS Gerald R. Ford Completes Flight Deck, Air Traffic Control Certifications
ATLANTIC OCEAN — “Man all flight quarters stations!” These words were heard across every space on the USS Gerald R. Ford as the carrier prepared to launch and recover aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) to complete flight deck certification (FDC) and carrier air traffic control center (CATCC) certification on March 20. Conducting flight operations is the key role…
NAVFAC Southeast Orders Kings Bay Dry Dock Recapitalization for Columbia SSBN
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded a $191.9 million fixed-price award-fee contract March 20 to Alberici-Mortenson, Joint Venture out of St. Louis, Missouri, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast Public Affairs said in a March 23…
Hospital Ship Mercy Deploying to Los Angeles
ARLINGTON, Virginia — The secretary of defense said the Military Sealift Command’s hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) is deploying to Los Angeles to relieve the city’s hospitals of some of their non-COVID-19 patient burden as they deal with the virus…
112 Congressmen Call for Second Virginia-Class Sub in 2021
WASHINGTON — The congressional push for reinstatement of a second Virginia-class submarine in the 2021 defense budget has attracted the support of 112 congressmen. A letter from three congressmen on the Seapower subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee — sent to the House Appropriations Committee…
USS Delbert D. Black Completes Acceptance Trials
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…
CNO Calls Unmanned MQ-4C Triton ‘Game-Changing’
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s top officer said the high-altitude, high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is providing support to the fleet on its first deployment that was not available before. “We’re still committed to the [MQ-4C Triton],” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said, responding to…
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…
Wittman: DDGs Still Needed as Cruisers Retire; Go Slow on USVs
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy still needs a large fleet of guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to replace the guided-missile cruisers (CGs) being retired, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) said. Speaking March 9 at the Hudson Institute, a Washington…
