ARLINGTON, Va. — The new frigate being designed and built for the U.S. Navy will operate manned and unmanned helicopters from its flight deck and will be able to add new weapon and aviation capabilities as those systems are developed. The Navy…
Geurts: COVID-19 Crisis Offers Opportunity to Strengthen Acquisition, Sustainment
ARLINGTON, Va. — A top U.S. Navy official said acquisition and sustainment could emerge stronger, having withstood disruptions during the COVID-19 crisis. Speaking May 4 as part of a Navy League webinar sponsored by IBM for small businesses in the defense industry, James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research,…
Larger, More Capable Navy Needed, SECDEF Says
ARLINGTON, Va. — The nation’s top defense official said the U.S. armed forces need to shed some legacy forces for a more modern force, one that includes more modern naval forces. “We need a larger, more capable Navy that can implement distributed lethality…
New CH-53K Simulator Ready for Training
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The H-53 heavy-lift helicopter program office has taken delivery of the first training device for the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter, according to a Naval Air Systems Command release. Delivered April 14, the Containerized Flight Training Device (CFTD) is housed at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. …
Esper: ‘The Safest Place Is on a Deployed Navy Ship’
ARLINGTON, Va. — The secretary of defense noted May 4 that — with a couple of notable exceptions — the U.S. Navy’s ships at sea remain unaffected by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The statistics show that the safest place to be is on a deployed Navy ship compared to one that’s…
Lessons Learned From Teddy Roosevelt Outbreak Help Ease COVID-19 Impact on USS Kidd
ARLINGTON, Va. — The safe return to port of the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd — with none of its crew needing hospitalization after a COVID-19 outbreak at sea — is due largely to lessons learned from the spread of the…
U.S., British Ships Conduct Anti-Submarine Exercise Above Arctic Circle
NORWEGIAN SEA — The U.S. 6th Fleet conducted a bilateral anti-submarine warfare exercise with the U.K. above the Arctic Circle on May 1, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and the 6th Fleet said. Four ships from two nations, a U.S. submarine, and a U.S. P-8A maritime patrol and reconnaissance…
Eastern Shipbuilding Cuts Steel for Second Offshore Patrol Cutter
PANANA CITY, Fla. — Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) began to cut steel for the second offshore patrol cutter (OPC), the Chase, on April 27, ESG said in a release. The cutting of steel starts the fabrication and assembly of the cutter’s hull, and ESG is to complete keel-laying of the Chase next year. Additionally, ESG has started the…
Geurts: Urgency, Discipline Hallmarks of Frigate Selection Process
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s top acquisition official praised the government team that selected and the industry teams that submitted proposals for the design of the Navy’s next-generation small combatant, the FFG(X) guided-missile frigate, the first of which is scheduled to…
Marinette Marine Wins Guided-Missile Frigate Contract
WASHINGTON — Marinette Marine has won a coveted contract from the U.S. Navy to design and produce the next-generation small surface combatant, the guided-missile frigate (FFG(X), the public affairs office of the Navy’s Program Executive Office-Unmanned and Small Combatants said in an April 30 release. The Marinette Marine deal is good for detail design and construction (DD&C) of…
