The Italian navy commissioned its newest logistics support ship (LSS), the ITS Vulcano (A5335) at a ceremony at the Fincantieri Naval Integrated shipyard in Muggiano, Italy. The 633-foot (193 meter), 27,200-ton LSS can replenish a surface ship task group and…
State Dept. Approves $1.8B Sale of P-8A Patrol Aircraft to Germany
WASHINGTON — The State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale to Germany of P-8A aircraft and associated support and related equipment, for an estimated cost of $1.77 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a March 12 release. Germany…
Royal Malaysian Navy Stands Up Unmanned Aircraft Squadron
The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) established the 601st Unmanned Aerial System Squadron on March 4, 2021, operating the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAS from its base at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. It is the RMN’s first unit dedicated to unmanned aerial…
China Adopts ‘Assertive Posture’ With Eye on Taiwan, Admiral Says
Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on March 4 and in testimony to Congress on March 9, said the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is stepping up its pressure on Taiwan…
Senators, Congressmen Reintroduce the Energizing American Shipbuilding Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, in reintroducing the Energizing American Shipbuilding Act, Wicker’s office said in a March 11 release. Reps. John Garamendi, D-California,…
AeroVironment’s Arcturus UAV Subsidiary Awarded $7M for SOCOM UAS Program
SIMI VALLEY, Calif., March 9, 2021 – AeroVironment Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary Arcturus UAV, now operating under the AeroVironment brand, was awarded a competitive task order valued at approximately $7 million from the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the company said…
DOD Releases Fiscal Year 2020 Freedom of Navigation Report
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of Defense (DoD) released on March 10 its annual Freedom of Navigation (FON) Report for Fiscal Year 2020. During the period from Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2020, U.S. forces operationally challenged 28 different excessive…
Virginia SSN New Jersey Construction Advances with Pressure Hull Complete
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has achieved a milestone in the construction of the submarine New Jersey (SSN 796), the company said in a March 9 release. The company reached pressure hull complete on…
HASC Chairman: Don’t ‘Waste Any More Money’ on F-35 Strike Fighter
ARLINGTON, Va. — The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says he’d like the Defense Department to stop buying the troubled and massively expensive F-35 Lightning II strike fighter. In a wide-ranging discussion livestreamed March 5 by the Brookings Institution,…
HII Announces the Election of Kari Wilkinson as Ingalls Shipbuilding President
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.–Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) board of directors has elected Kari Wilkinson to serve as executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, effective April 1, the company announced in a March 5 release. She…
