By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s requirement to develop a method of launching and — more challenging — recovering autonomous underwater vehicles from torpedo tubes of submarines is being met by L3Harris Technologies (Booth 937), which has been awarded an Other Transaction Authority contract from the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit to deliver the Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery (TTLR) system. 

The TTLR has demonstrated its ability to launch and recover Iver4 900 AUVs through attach submarine torpedo tubes.  

“The Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system is not a future capability, it’s answering combatant commander needs today,” Nino DiCosmo, president, Maritime, Space & Mission Systems, L3Harris, said in a company release. “Our system is the first to successfully launch and recover AUVs from a submarine, providing commanders flexibility for persistent undersea operations and maintaining essential stealth.” 

The Iver4 900 AUV is payload agnostic, said J.R. Gear, vice president and general manager of Integrated Systems and Encryption for L3Harris, in an interview, noting the system would be capable of missions such as seafloor mapping, counter-mine warfare and other intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions.  

“We try to build it with some modular interfaces that you could have one type of mission one day from a submarine and then swap out the sensor and swap out the batteries and [gain] maybe a little bit more range and endurance or whatever and tailor the vehicle for today’s mission,” he said. “Very adaptable.”  

Gear was not at liberty to describe the details of how the AUV swims back into the torpedo tube, citing proprietary restrictions. But he did say the recovery is “completely autonomous.” 

The TTLR includes a sleeve that fits inside the torpedo tube, called a SAFECAP, of Shock and Fire Enclosure, from which the IVER4 900 AUV swims out and is later recovered. Importantly, no structural modifications to the submarine are required.  

“Whether it [the AUV] swims out with the nose out or backs out, it’s payload dependent on how it leaves,” Gear said. “It literally swims away, performs its mission, and then when it returns, it’s kind of a push of a button and it will swim back into that SAFECAP of the torpedo enclosure. We’ve tested this on several different types of submarines, and I think we’re the first also that have done this on both the United States Navy and the Royal Navy.” 

Gear said the “submarine has to operate in an envelope that’s going to be compatible with the UUV. We can’t discuss that here but it’s very friendly to the mission. You put the SAFECAP in [the torpedo tube], the Iver goes in there with the guides, you lock it up and let it go, and it swims on out and does its thing autonomously. And when it’s finished with its mission, it comes back, and with a command, a single command, it will come back into the sub.”  

The SAFECAP sleeve can be removed inside the submarine for the torpedo tube to be used for torpedoes or other payloads. 

“The system delivers the first U.S. Navy submarine- and aviation-approved AUV lithium-ion battery technology, enabling longer-duration missions with hot-swap capability for continuous operations,” L3Harris said in a March 26 release. “TTLR’s interoperability across multiple submarine classes and allied platforms advances the Navy’s manned-unmanned teaming vision and demonstrates AUKUS Pillar 2 collaboration.”  

Gear was not at liberty to discuss the value of the contract award or the quantity of the order. He did say a TTLR shipset includes two AUVs with a sustainment package that includes some payloads and spare parts. The TTLRs are being built at the company’s Fall River, Massachusetts, facility. 

Gear declined to say when deliveries of the TTLR will begin, only, “we’ve been looking forward to this working with the Navy for a little while and ready to go if and when the Navy was ready. And so, they’re ready now. The pump is primed and we’re starting to execute on that contract.”

By Vicky Uhland, Seapower Correspondent 

In a new era of acquisition, it’s important to remember the most pressing operational need for the U.S. Navy is readiness. And the good news is that “today’s fleet is more forward than it’s ever been in my career. We are absolutely ready,” said Rear Admiral Thomas Dickinson during the Monday afternoon panel discussion “Speed to the Fleet.” 

“Readiness in nonnegotiable. Without it you don’t have capability or capacity,” said Dickinson, USN program executive officer for integrated warfare systems. “It might not be as sexy as new capability, but readiness is the king.” 

In a standing-room-only session, Dickinson and panelists from industry and the research community discussed how they can best work together to deliver readiness faster to the fleet, both now and in the future.  

“We’re moving from a just-in-time to a just-in-case mentality,” Dickinson said. “That’s the mentality we need. We cannot be ready enough. Urgency and resilience is really the call.”  

Dickinson said industry partners can help the Navy achieve readiness through detailed, real-time insights and data. In the current warfare environment, “it’s a gift to be able to see how we’re performing and make improvements. Innovation and learning go hand-in-hand.” 

But as the Navy ramps up its readiness, it’s logical there will be more risk, Dickinson said. That’s where data from both the Navy and its partners comes in. “We have to be able to quantify risk, and it has to be based on data,” he said. “We’re getting better at collecting data quickly.”  

Industry Viewpoints 

Panelist Barbara Borgonovi, president of naval power for Raytheon, said one of the main things helping her company aid the Navy in its readiness initiatives is the landmark agreement with the Department of Defense to expand five critical munitions: The AMRAAM missile; the block IB and block IIA variants of the SM-3 interceptor; the SM-6 missile; and the land attack and maritime strike variants of the Tomahawk cruise missile. 

Borgonovi said this multiyear commitment ensures that Raytheon will have consistent demand, which will help the company make investments in suppliers, employees and other sources.  

“We’re going to make billions of dollars in investments” in the five critical munitions, she said, noting that some Raytheon programs are increasing capacity by five to 10 times.  

From the data standpoint, the Navy’s change in focus from activities to outcomes is altering how it interacts with industry, said Vincent Bauer, research program director, data science integration, CNA. 

“The Navy is extremely complex” and its processes can be its biggest bottleneck in working with industry. “Data cuts through that complexity” and helps the Navy become a better customer for industry, he said. 

Panelists also answered questions from audience members and session moderator Megan Eckstein, founder of Maeday Communications, including: 

What challenges does money solve, and what will it not fix? 

The Navy is making generational investments for critical munitions and new entrants, Dickinson said. But “money is unfeeling and unthinking. It doesn’t hire talent; it doesn’t drive outcomes over process. We are on the hook to maximize the use of those taxpayer dollars.”  

The key, he said, is to create a culture and conditions to best spend new acquisitions money. “It comes down to leadership at the end of the day.”  

Borgonovi said threats are going to continue to evolve for weapons systems, so industry needs to stay flexible, including learning from operational use and making investments in data sets.  

“We’ve been given an opportunity that allows us to fill in the lines,” she said “We have a lot of flexibility to get to the outcome we want.”  

What’s good for a production line is stability; what’s good for the fleet is innovation. How do you balance this? 

Borgonovi said Raytheon has seen “incredible engagement” with the Navy on sharing data from Operation Epic Fury. She said her company’s focus is on having the ability and capacity to meet multiple needs for customers, including design scalability and composable designs. 

Dickinson said the Navy wants to be in an environment where software rather than hardware is driving capability. “It puts us in a much better place to be agile and address threats,” he said.  

What does the industrial base need to look like to support the modern wartime environment? 

Borgonovi believes suppliers and the military need to share data across all companies involved, not just a single contractor. 

Bauer noted the defense industry works differently than the consumer industry. “Just-in-time isn’t the kind of production system we need in missions,” he said, as a wartime environment creates the ability for production surges and opens new pathways to invest in the future. 

The Amphibious Warfare Industrial Base Coalition (AWIBC) is a trade coalition of suppliers of systems, components, parts, and services toward the construction and sustainment of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious warfare ships. Recently, Paul Roden, chair of the AWIBC, responded to questions below from Senior Editor Richard R. Burgess.  

Has AWIBC membership increased or decreased over the last year? 

RODEN: The Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition is a robust and growing organization. We continue to see strong interest from suppliers who recognize the importance of a unified voice in advocating for the stability of our nation’s defense industrial base that supports the men and women of our Navy and Marine Corps. 

Is the amphibious warship industrial base in better or worse shape than last year? 

RODEN: We are incredibly grateful for recent funding in support of amphibious warships, including the multi-ship buy for LPD 33, LPD 34 and LPD 35 as well as LHA 10. However, our most recent survey data shows that less than 10% of our suppliers are operating at full capacity due to inconsistent demand signals. As this new funding is placed on contract, it will help rejuvenate production lines and inject much-needed stability into the industrial base. 

With all of the efforts to shore up the shipbuilding workforce, how healthy is the workforce of the suppliers? 

RODEN: The most critical factor in the health of the industrial base workforce is stable and predictable funding. Our survey data shows a direct link between inconsistent demand and the challenge of maintaining a skilled workforce. With a clear and consistent demand signal from the government, we can unlock the full capacity of a domestic industrial base that is 100% committed to delivering the ships our warfighters need. 

How did the well-funded reconciliation law affect the amphibious warfare ship suppliers? 

RODEN: The funding for the bundle buy was a significant and welcome investment. That funding is helping to rejuvenate idle production lines and inject much-needed stability across the amphibious warship industrial base. More than 50% of suppliers agree that the multi-ship buy has added predictability, helping plan for on-time deliveries. It was a crucial investment for the suppliers in our coalition and we are grateful for that support. 

Are you seeing any improvements in amphibious warfare ship construction schedule stability? 

RODEN: While the recent funding was a significant and welcome commitment, true schedule stability can only come from consistent and predictable funding through multi-year appropriations. To the extent that many of our suppliers support new construction across both amphibious ships and other critical naval assets, stable funding benefits the entire shipbuilding industrial base committed to delivering America’s maritime dominance. 

By Vicky Uhland, Seapower Correspondent  

In October, Anduril Industries (Booth 130) is set to debut its first ship in a new class of autonomous surface vessels in collaboration with HD Hyundai and Edison Chouest Offshore. 

Anduril’s 60-meter, 500-plus-ton ASV is aimed the U.S. Navy’s medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) program, which focuses on building a distributed, autonomous surface fleet that can nimbly coordinate operations in order to deter threats.  

MUSV is in response to the growing expense of using manned platforms to defend commercial shipping and maintain sea control, said Cory Emmons, Anduril’s general manager of surface dominance.  

Emmons said because of lead-ship building difficulties from legacy production models in the U.S., Anduril chose to partner with Hyundai to cut production time. Anduril is also partnering with Edison Chouest Offshore for U.S. ship production, while Hyundai will mostly build ships for Anduril’s global clients.  

“The U.S. Navy has been clear: Scale is what matters. A single autonomous ship doesn’t move the needle,” according to an Anduril blog. “Commercial shipbuilders are essential to this effort because they already operate at scale, producing large numbers of reliable vessels efficiently, on time and on a disciplined budget.” 

Production on Anduril’s first ASV began in November, and Anduril has been conducting daily at-sea testing of vehicle autonomy, mission autonomy and container payloads on a surrogate vessel using the company’s high-assurance software. “We’re analyzing all potential hazards on the [sea] surface,” Emmons said.  

Along with potential naval applications, Emmons said Anduril’s ASV fleet could be used commercially for sea bed and continental shelf exploration for oil and gas companies. “It’s an emerging market,” he said.  

By Erika Fitzpatrick, Seapower Correspondent 

The U.S. military and allied nations are ramping up their strategic offensive and defensive capabilities in the Arctic to confront an expanding presence from adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, said Vice Admiral Doug Perry, U.S. Navy Commander of Joint Force Command Norfolk, at Sea-Air-Space on Monday, April 20.  

“We have to acknowledge that is not a situation we want to allow to continue, to the detriment of free nations and certainly [of] the United States,” Perry said during a polar issues panel moderated by Dr. Abbie Tingstad, professor of Arctic Research at the Center for Arctic Study and Policy at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. 

The Arctic polar region is primarily ocean, surrounded on its edges by the eight member states of the Arctic Council: Canada; the Kingdom of Denmark, which includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands; Finland; Iceland; Norway; the Russian Federation; Sweden; and the United States, where Alaska includes a 1.5-million-square-mile exclusive economic zone in its surrounding waters.  

Council decisions are achieved in agreement with six “permanent participants” that represent Aleut, Arctic Athabaskan, Gwich’in, Inuit, Saami, and Russian Indigenous people, who have inhabited the Arctic for millennia and are about 10% of the 4 million Arctic residents. 

The Arctic in the last four decades has warmed three times faster than the worldwide average, according to a 2024 Arctic Council report, by its Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. The has led to new concerns, collaborations, and potential conflicts among Arctic nations, all touched on by the Sea-Air-Space panelists.  

For instance, Russia is revitalizing assets throughout the high north, including air bases; granting oil and gas rights to China; and refilling liquid natural gas tankers that are now built for the Arctic’s northern sea route. Although some of the Russian Federation’s long-range aviation is focused elsewhere, Perry said its northern fleet is “large unimpacted by the Ukrainian fight.”  

A More Arctic NATO 

Those are emerging threats, Perry said, but on the plus side: “Also what has changed in the last couple years is that Finland and Sweden joined NATO.”  

With the exception of Russia, Perry works directly with these and other Arctic nations in his other role as the director of the U.S. 2nd Fleet Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS COE), established in May 2006. Representing 13 nations, CJOS is the only such center based in the United States and one of 27 NATO-accredited COEs worldwide to collaborate on maritime-based joint operations. 

Perry said Arctic allies and partners in his geography under NATO are shoring up defenses against new Russian capabilities; increasing domain awareness and readiness through synchronized, scheduled exercises; and providing deterrence through an enhanced presence in the region.  

Cooperation is key because it’s an “ugly endeavor” to operate ships, icebreakers and submarines in the harsh Arctic climate “all the time,” Perry said, adding that it’s not feasible to operate foot patrols across Greenland and Canada. “It’s not achievable and it would be really expensive.”  

But allies must be a regular show of force in the region. “That’s where the missiles are going to fly — they’re going to fly over the polar region,” Perry said, “whether they’re coming from North Korea or China or Russia, and so we need to understand how to defend against that.” 

Icebreakers on the Way 

And “the icebreakers are coming,” said an excited Vice Admiral Nathan Moore, deputy commandant of Operations at the U.S. Coast Guard. “For us in the Coast Guard, that is something that we have not been able to say — well, ever.” Two of three planned heavy icebreakers, being built at “world record speed,” should be operational in fiscal 2028. 

This bigger fleet — including 11 Arctic Security Cutters — expands USCG patrol capabilities amid a 37% rise in U.S. Arctic maritime traffic, including of foreign military vessels traversing the area. “There’s a lot of icebreaker capacity coming,” Moore said. He added that allies have broadened their focus beyond search and rescue and pollution response to safety and sovereignty. 

USCG still has to designate Arctic-trained personnel to command the new vessels and figure out how to supply, maintain and sustain the fleet in the remote region. For instance, Dutch Harbor, on Alaska’s Amaknak Island in Unalaska, is seven or eight days away by sea from the deep waters of the high north. 

That’s why it’s essential to maintain relationships with allies, who operate deep water ports and bases the United States needs to use, Perry said.  

Although there are challenges, the United States and partner nations still have immense knowledge that positions them well to compete in the region, said retired Navy Vice Admiral Bill Merz, a former submarine commander who is now senior vice president of Aerospace and Defense Technologies at Oceaneering.  

“It’s a fascinating place to operate,” Merz said of the Arctic, teaming with life and spectacular visuals above and below the ice. But the operational environment is ever-changing and dangerous, he said, describing a cacophonous riot of crashing and shifting floes of varying thicknesses in areas that are almost impossible to map.  

Leverage the Magic 

Allied Arctic nations can partner with industry to gain even more intelligence of the region. The U.S. oil and gas industry, he said, has unparalleled experience operating on the ocean floor for long stretches, including with uncrewed vehicles that can function without human intervention for months. “So, there’s a lot of magic there,” he said.  

He conceded that China’s Navy is disciplined and will be a regional player eventually. “But I tell you, they got a lot to learn,” Merz said. “There’s a difference between showing up at the Arctic and living and sustaining yourself in an environment where … communications are horrible, navigation’s tough” and there’s very little, if any, infrastructure. 

“That understanding is a tremendous advantage that we have and that we need to take advantage of,” he said. “And as we bring industries and the navies together, that’s a powerful partnership.” 

From HII 
 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HII (NYSE: HII) today celebrated the 25th anniversary of the REMUS unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) family during the 2026 Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition, marking a quarter century of innovation, reliability and mission versatility that has made REMUS the world’s leading autonomous underwater vehicle platform. 

Originally funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, REMUS began as a research vehicle designed to advance ocean science and undersea exploration. Over the past 25 years, HII has expanded that pioneering technology into the most widely produced and adopted autonomous unmanned underwater systems in the world, supporting defense, commercial and scientific missions. 

“REMUS has endured for 25 years because it was designed to evolve,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group in HII’s Mission Technologies division. “Its reliability, modularity, and open architecture allow operators to quickly adapt the platform to new missions while maintaining the performance and trust customers rely on.” 

Today, more than 750 REMUS vehicles have been delivered to over 30 nations. They are currently used by 14 NATO navies, including the U.S., United Kingdom, Norway and Germany, as well as allied partners across the Indo-Pacific. REMUS vehicles support mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and seabed mapping missions. More than 90% of all REMUS systems deployed in the past 25 years remain in active service, a testament to their durability, reliability and lifecycle value. 

Among REMUS’s notable capabilities and recognition: 

• The REMUS family supports modern naval operations with unmatched reliability. Its autonomous systems enable independent and teamed operations. In a recent breakthrough, REMUS 600 vehicles were successfully launched and recovered from the torpedo tubes of an HII-built U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine, extending mission reach while reducing exposure risk and enhancing stealth for submarine forces. 

• REMUS’ open-architecture design enables rapid integration of new payloads as missions evolve, maximizing platform modularity while controlling lifecycle costs. The REMUS product line includes multiple variants designed for specific mission profiles and operating depths. Vehicle designations reflect operational depth capability and generational improvements, from the compact REMUS 130 optimized for shallow-water operations, to the REMUS 6000 designed for deep-sea exploration and recovery operations. REMUS 620, a medium unmanned underwater vehicle (MUUV), features modernized electronics, modular upgrades, and endurance of up to 110 hours with a range of approximately 275 nautical miles. 

• REMUS vehicles have played critical roles in high-profile global search operations, including the deep-ocean search for Air France Flight 447, post-tsunami maritime surveys in Japan, and the historic discovery of the USS Indianapolis (CA 35) in the Philippine Sea. 

• Research institutions and environmental organizations continue to rely on REMUS vehicles for oceanographic research, marine archaeology, and ecosystem monitoring. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently deploying REMUS 620 vehicles to map seafloor habitats impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, while universities and marine laboratories use the systems to conduct long-duration environmental surveys. 

The U.S. Navy’s Lionfish Program 

The U.S. Navy’s current Lionfish UUV is based on HII’s REMUS 300 platform, a modular, open-architecture small unmanned underwater vehicle (SUUV) engineered for multi-mission adaptability. The program was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to accelerate the adoption of dual-use commercial technologies in U.S. Department of Defense programs. 

Lionfish has been recognized as the U.S. Navy’s first successful transition from an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) prototype to full-rate production. It is also the first — and currently only — cyber-compliant UUV. 

Strategic Partnerships and Future Capabilities 

HII continues to invest in next-generation capabilities and strategic partnerships that expand how unmanned systems operate across the maritime domain. In a recent initiative, HII and Babcock International Group signed a strategic agreement to integrate REMUS UUVs with Babcock’s submarine weapon handling and launch systems, enabling autonomous launch and recovery of UUVs through submarine torpedo tubes and unlocking new deployment options for allied submarine forces. 

In the U.S. Navy’s future fleet, and together with HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface vehicle (USV), REMUS systems enable integration of manned and unmanned platforms.

From Bell Textron 

Bell announces results of Nacelle Improvement Program showing dramatic reduction in maintenance hours and maintainer time to improve readiness 

AMARILLO, Texas (April 20, 2026) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced initial results and benefits from more than 10,000 flight hours of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) CV-22 Ospreys with the Nacelle Improvement (NI) Program. The first of nine CV-22s with the 20^th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base received the NI upgrade in 2021, and the program has produced a 75 percent reduction in maintenance hours resulting in a significant boost in operational readiness and maintainability. 

The V-22 Osprey nacelle houses critical power components to the V-22’s vertical take-off and landing capabilities and transition to forward flight. The NI program is a targeted upgrade designed to modernize the V-22’s nacelles. By simplifying wiring, enhancing structural components, and integrating fleet maintainer-informed feedback, NI improves the Osprey’s reliability, readiness, and sustainability for any mission for the next 30 years.  

“Since the initial rollout, the CV-22 Nacelle Improvement has saved AFSOC more than 24,000 maintenance hours, equating to a savings of more than 1,000 days of maintainer time that can be used toward other high-priority needs,” said V-22 Joint Program Office Principal Military Deputy Program Manager and CV-22 Senior Materiel Leader. “CV-22 readiness saw more than a 10 percent increase; meaning more mission capable CV-22s on the flightline, which allows for further training and improved safety.” 

Bell completes the NI modification at its Amarillo Assembly Center (AAC), which actively produces V-22s for the U.S. Department of War. The AAC assembles all variants of the Bell Boeing V-22 model – MV, CMV, and CV. 

“The Nacelle Improvement Program enhances the V-22s reliability, flexibility, and global reach for combat and humanitarian missions alike,” said Kurt Fuller, senior vice president, Military Fielded Programs, Bell. “We are pleased to see these remarkable results from the NI program and look forward to continued collaboration to enhance focus on V-22 safety, sustainability, and readiness.”  

Technology will enhance country’s electronic warfare capabilities 

From RTX 

ARLINGTON, V.A. (April 20, 2026) — Raytheon, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, has delivered its first Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pods to the Royal Australian Air Force.  

NGJ is a cooperative development and production program with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It is an airborne electronic attack system containing active electronically scanned arrays that radiate in the mid-band frequency range. By disrupting enemy radars and communication systems, NGJ enables aircrew to remain undetected while airborne, allowing them to execute their missions with greater safety and effectiveness. 

“This delivery marks a significant milestone in our collaborative efforts with the U.S. Navy and RAAF on NGJ,” said Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon. “This advanced technology will greatly enhance RAAF’s electronic warfare capabilities, safeguarding vital assets on its aircraft and more effectively neutralizing adversary technologies across a wide range of missions.” 

Raytheon has been partnering with the U.S. Navy and RAAF since the inception of the NGJ program. This first delivery of shipsets occurred ahead of schedule in September 2025, with future deliveries continuing through 2026. Raytheon is also providing on-site deployment and maintenance support in Australia to help support operational and mission readiness.

From Chris Bishop at Boeing, April 20, 2026

Boeing, U.S. Navy complete initial flight tests of the JDAM LR, validating powered flight and long-range capability. 

Boeing and U.S. Navy teammates completed a series of flight tests last week for the GBU-75 Joint Direct Attack Munition Long Range (JDAM LR) at the Navy’s Point Mugu Sea Range, California. 

• JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit that converts existing free-fall bombs into accurately guided smart weapons. JDAM LR adds long-range capability and is the newest in the JDAM family of systems. 

Why it matters: The tests validated the weapon’s ability to operate from an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter and sustain powered flight of a 500-pound (230-kilogram) JDAM. 

• Military Code GPS navigation systems on JDAM LR tracked satellites for the entire test, improving the weapon’s resilience and accuracy against GPS jamming and spoofing. 

How they did it: An F/A-18E Super Hornet from China Lake Naval Weapons Station flew to Point Mugu and released an inert JDAM LR. 

• The first test, on April 1, demonstrated safe separation, engine start, cruise and guidance through terminal flight and impact in water after a 34-minute flight. The weapon sustained powered flight for nearly 200 nautical miles and landed within meters of its planned target.   

• For the next test, on April 3, teams flew a second planned flight profile, successfully incorporating altitude changes and weapon maneuvering during an otherwise similar flight. 

From U.S. Central Command, April 19, 2026 

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. forces operating in the Arabian Sea enforced naval blockade measures against an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, April 19. 

Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade. 

After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody. 

American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance. Since the blockade’s commencement, U.S. forces have directed 25 commercial vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port.