NEW ORLEANS — Textron Systems announced in a Dec. 17 release the successful completion by its first next-generation landing craft, Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), Craft 100 of the U.S. Navy’s acceptance trials after completing a series of in-port and underway demonstrations on Dec. 6. “Our customers depend…
HII Launches Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Nine days after christening the U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division launched John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) into the James River for the first time on Dec. 16, the company said in…
Future USS St. Louis Completes Acceptance Trials
MARINETTE, Wis. — The future USS St. Louis has completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin said in a release. Now that trials are complete, the ship will undergo final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery. LCS 19 is the tenth Freedom-variant LCS designed and built by the…
Czech Republic Orders AH-1Z and UH-1Y Helicopters from Bell
WASHINGTON — The U.S. secretary of defense, Mark Esper, and Czech Republic Minister of Defence, Lubomir Metnar, signed a letter finalizing the foreign military sale by Bell Textron Inc. of H-1 helicopters to the Czech Air Force, the company announced in a release. “We are privileged to…
Scientists Warn U.S. Running Out of Time to Modernize Nuclear Weapons Systems
America’s current nuclear deterrent force is safe, secure and effective, but the nation is running out of time to modernize the weapon systems in the nuclear triad and the infrastructure that produces and sustains them, three senior military commanders and…
P-8A Poseidon to Support Chilean-Led Search for C-130
NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. — U.S. Southern Command directed U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command to deploy a P-8A Poseidon multimission maritime aircraft to Punta Arenas, Chile, on Dec. 10 to support Chile’s ongoing search for a Chilean Air Force C-130 Hercules that went missing in the…
Saab Receives Order for Components for Marine Corps G/ATOR Radar
STOCKHOLM — Saab has received an order for components and subsystems for full-rate production systems for the U.S. Marine Corps Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR), which has the U.S. designation AN/TPS-80, the company said in a Dec. 9 release. The initial…
Navy Accepts Delivery of 11th EPF, USNS Puerto Rico
MOBILE, Ala. — The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of its 11th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), the future USNS Puerto Rico, from Austal USA on Dec. 10. Delivery marks the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder to the Navy. EPF 11 will be owned and…
Bell Boeing Delivers First Modified Osprey for Improved Fleet Readiness
PHILADELPHIA — Boeing and Bell Textron Inc. have delivered the first modified MV-22 Osprey to the U.S. Marine Corps for improved readiness and reliability of the tilt-rotor fleet, Boeing said in a release. The Marines have multiple configurations of the MV-22 aircraft in…
NATO, U.S. See Rise in Russian Naval Activity in Seas Around Europe, Top Commander Says
NATO and U.S. forces in Europe are seeing increased Russian naval activities in all the seas around Europe. But following a meeting with Russia’s military chief they have seen no unprofessional or unsafe incidents at sea or in the air…


