By Richard Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — A strong wind that swept through Naval Air Station Whiting Field caused damage more than three dozen new TH-73 Thrasher training helicopters earlier this month, according to a Navy spokesman. The following…
F-35B Crashes in New Mexico En Route Test Assignment
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — An F-35B Lightning II strike fighter crashed shortly after takeoff from Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, on May 28. The pilot ejected and was hospitalized with serious injuries. The Marine…
Navy Orders Two More Constellation Frigates
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has ordered the next two Constellation-class guided-missile frigates (FFGs) from Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine, the Defense Department said. The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Marinette Marine Corp., of Marinette,…
Navy Admiral Selects Three Littoral Combat Ships for 2025 Basing with 5th Fleet
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The admiral in charge of U. S. Navy surface forces has named the three Independence-class littoral combat ships (LCS) slated to be forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet to replace the…
HASC TACAIR Mark-Up Would Assign Newest Super Hornets to Navy Reserve
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The mark-up of the House Armed Services Committee’s TACAIR and Land Forces subcommittee for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act would assign the newest F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters to the…
SECNAV: Frigate Delay Due to ‘Atrocious’ Shipyard Worker Retention
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The delay in the program to build the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG) has been caused by a labor shortage brought on by poor shipyard worker retention, the secretary of the Navy…
SAIC Advances Scalable Open-Architecture Counter-UAS Systems
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — SAIC’s counter-unmanned aerial system (CUAS) concepts will be further tested in a June 2024 demonstration, a company official said. The company has two types of CUAS systems deployed and is in…
Navy’s Triton UAV to Provide Targeting for LRASM
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — An upgrade to the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle will enable it to provide targeting for the AGM-158 Long-Range Anti-ship Missile (LRASM), senior Navy officials said. In a May…
BlueHalo to Test C-UAS System on Marine Corps JLTV
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — BlueHalo will be testing its LOCUST Laser Weapon System on a U.S. Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) said. BlueHalo’ s primary focus is…
USS George Washington Deploys to U.S. Southern Command, Eventually Headed to Japan
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — A major homeport shift involving two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers is underway with the April 25, 2024, departure of USS George Washington (CVN 73) from Norfolk, Virginia, to the U.S. Southern Command…
