By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s use of unmanned systems in the U.S 4th Fleet area of operations (AOR) is enabling the fleet to move from experimentation to operationalization of the unmanned systems, even discovering…
Navy to Send Beach Group, Sealift Ships to Support Gaza Relief
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is sending an expedition of beach cargo handling forces to assist in the establishment of a floating causeway and pier to handle delivery of relief supplies to Gaza. …
Navy Orders 17 Block III Super Hornets Plus Data Package
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has ordered 17 more Block III F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters for the fleet, with the contract action also providing for the initial phase of delivery of the aircraft’s…
Aircraft Carrier Suppliers Alarmed at Navy’s Planned Delay of CVN 82
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The coalition of suppliers of components, parts, and services for the construction of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers (CVNs) is alarmed at the proposed two-year delay of authorization for CVN 82…
Navy Narrows Fiscal 2025 Aircraft Procurement to Five Types
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of the Navy is proposing to procure 75 aircraft with $16.2 billion in the fiscal 2025 budget, but those 75 are divided among only five types. The 2025 budget…
The Correspondent and the Colonel: Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Link Defender and Daughter
Charles Compton was like many a Chicago teenager who learned to fly in the late 1930s and impressed a lovely girl or two along the way on airborne dates. One beauty would become his wife. “It was a lot of…
Navy Awards Bell Textron Contract for 12 AH-1Z Helicopters for Nigeria
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The government of Nigeria is slated to receive 12 AH-1Z Viper helicopter gunships, becoming the third foreign customer for the Viper. In a March 12 contract announcement, the Naval Air Systems…
Navy 2025 Budget Requests Only 6 Battle Force Ships
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2025 budget request proposes only six battle force ships, which, combined with planned ship retirements, would reduce the size of the battle force from 296 ships to…
Navy Reserve Receives Its First P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The first Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy Reserve has been delivered to Patrol Squadron 62 (VP-62). In March 6 ceremonies at the Boeing Military Delivery Facility in…
Navy Opens Second Triton UAV Forward Deployment Site
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy squadron that operates the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle has opened its second deployment site, with this one located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Sicily. During…
