The U.S. Navy is looking to decommission 8 vessels in 2021. Pending approval from Congress, the plan would see the first four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) being mothballed.
Ghost Fleet Overlord test vessels continue to inform and accelerate the U.S. Navy’s Large and Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) programs
The future USS Oakland (LCS 24) successfully concluded acceptance trials here May 22, following a series of in-port and underway demonstrations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Sailors aboard USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), working with engineers and technicians from Navy Surface Warfare Centers, successfully executed a “structural test fire” of the Mark 46 MOD 2 Gun Weapon System (GWS) on the Naval Air Weapons Center Weapons Division Sea Test Range, Point Mugu, May 16.
Tension are deescalating in mid-May 2020 in the South China Sea with the withdraw of Chinese and Malaysian ships over a maritime dispute regarding oceanic mineral and oil reserves claimed by Malaysia, China, and Vietnam. The U.S. Navy responded by sending warships in late April: the USS America (LHA-6) and its escorts USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) and USS Barry (DDG-52).
A U.S. Navy ship conducted presence operations near Panamanian flagged drillship, West Capella, May 12.
The US Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to award Lockheed Martin a new order for Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) testing assets to achieve P-8 Poseidon MPA program requirements, according to a contract opportunity published on April 20.
Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine Corporation was awarded a $795 mil US Navy contract for detail design & construction of the first ship at its Marinette shipyard in Wisconsin. Options for up to 10 ships could make the contract worth up to $5.6 billion. Fincantieri was competing with a frigate design based on the Italian Navy’s FREMM frigate.
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was delivered to the U.S. Navy fleet after completing its combat system activation and subsequent at-sea trials, two sources told USNI News.
Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Keyport Detachment San Diego’s Fleet Test and Evaluation Center (FTEC) supplied the Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) with a repurposed AN/USQ-167 Common Data Link System (CDLS) that was salvaged from the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65).
