ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s procurement and congressional funding of two Ford-class aircraft carriers in a single block buy enabled numerous small suppliers to weather or even survive the COVID pandemic, an industry official said. The stability of the program…
SASC Chair Reed: Defense Budget Turmoil Fault ‘Not in Our Stars, But in Ourselves’
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee quoted Shakespeare to lay the blame on Congress itself for the defense budget legislative turmoil over the last two decades of multiple continuing resolutions, and said budget delays are especially…
DoD Inspector General to Audit Navy’s MQ-25 UAV Program
ARLINGTON, Va. — The inspector general of the Department of Defense is planning to conduct an audit of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling unmanned aerial vehicle program. In a March 21 memorandum addressed to the undersecretary of Defense…
Navy Orders YRBM Barges from Conrad Shipyard
MORGAN CITY, La. — Conrad Shipyard LLC has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for the design and construction of up to eight Yard, Repair, Berthing and Messing (YRBM) barges, the company said in a release. YRBM barges…
Navy Decommissions Two More Patrol Ships
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy decommissioned two more Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships in March, bring to five the number of PCs retired from the U.S. 5th Fleet this year, all within a one-month period, according to the fleet’s public…
ONR-Sponsored RE2 Robotics, VideoRay ROV Achieve New Depth Milestone
PITTSBURGH and POTTSTOWN, Pa. — RE2 Robotics, a leading developer of intelligent mobile manipulation systems, announced March 22 that its Maritime Mine Neutralization System reached an unprecedented depth milestone of more than 1 kilometer during a recent open-water demonstration for…
Crowley to Operate Ice-Class Tanker for Military Sealift Command
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crowley has been awarded the Military Sealift Command charter contract to operate the Stena Polaris, an Ice-class tanker serving bulk fuel needs of the U.S. Department of Defense, the company said March 21. Crowley’s government ship management…
CNO Visits Norfolk for Carrier Aviation Centennial Celebration
NORFOLK, Virginia — U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday traveled to Hampton Roads, Virginia, for the 100 Years of Carrier Aviation Celebration, to visit local commands and to meet with Sailors and industry partners, March 20-21, the CNO’s…
Marine Corps Orders Development of Recovery Variant of ACV
QUANTICO, Va. — The Marine Corps has taken the next step in developing its family of Amphibious Combat Vehicles by beginning development of a maintenance/recovery variant of the ACV. The Marine Corps Systems Command awarded BAE Systems Land & Armaments…
Four Marines Die in MV-22B Crash in Norway
ARLINGTON, Va. — A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft crashed in Norway on March 18, killing all four Marine crewmen on board. The Osprey, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261), based at Marine Corps Air Station…
