Nearly one month following the acceptance of its first advanced weapons elevator (AWE), the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), has accepted its second, the service said on March 6.

The US Navy announced on March 6 the establishment of Program Executive Office Columbia (PEO CLB) to focus entirely on the Navy’s number one acquisition priority.

The Australian Department of Defence has awarded Phoenix International Ltd a contract for a Submarine Rescue Service (SRS) to include the acquisition and support of the SEA1354 Ph 1 Submarine Escape, Rescue, and Abandonment System (SERAS), the Australian subsidiary of Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. said on March 6.

The US Coast Guard commissioned the 30th fast response cutter (FRC), Robert Ward, in San Francisco, California, March 2. The cutter is the second of four planned FRCs to be stationed in San Pedro, the service said on March 5.

The French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) yesterday took delivery of another Metropolitan Offshore Support & Assistance Vessel (BSAM) Seine. Ordered in 2016 for the French Navy, the BSAM Seine is the third of four ships designed and built by the Kership shipyard.

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) recently deployed a new VTOL UAV from the Lanzhou Type 052C destroyer, Chinese media Global Times reported.

The U.S. Navy's next-generation Sub-Sonic Aerial Target (SSAT), BQM-177A, reached Initial Operational Capability (IOC) Feb. 27 and will begin land-based operations in Point Mugu, California.

The French defence procurement agency DGA has awarded the RIFAN 2.1 contract to an industrial consortium headed by Airbus and also comprising the Naval Group and Rohde & Schwarz. This contract was signed for a maximum duration of eight years and up to a maximum amount of € 150 million.

Boeing has secured a US$429 million advanced acquisition contract for P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft production for the US Navy, New Zealand and Republic of Korea, the US DoD stated on Feb. 28, 2019.