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…
SECNAV Advocates Increased Legal Immigration to Increase Shipbuilder Workforce
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The secretary of the Navy said the shortage of workers in the U.S. shipbuilding industry could be partially alleviated by allowing more legal immigrants into the country to work in the…
Insitu Going Strong at 30, Focusing on Maritime Operations
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Insitu, one of the most experienced companies in the small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS) market, will mark 30 years of operations in May. The company (in parent company Boeing’s Booth…
Navy Awards Boeing Additional Funds for MQ-25 Drones for Testing
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has awarded Boeing funds to enhance the production of MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based aerial refueling unmanned aerial vehicles, bringing to five the number procured for testing. The Naval Air Systems…
