DefenceTalkBy Rear Adm. Tom Moore, Program Executive Officer, Aircraft Carriers This year has been an exciting and rewarding year for aircraft carriers. In December 2012, we said good-bye to probably our most legendary aircraft carrier and held a formal inactivation ceremony for USS Enterprise (CVN 65). She is now at Huntington Ingalls-Newport News to begin […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cvn-78-a-true-leap-ahead-for-the-navy-and-naval-aviation-48342/

DefenceTalkPatrol Coastal (PC) ships USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Squall (PC 7) and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) arrived pierside in Bahrain July 3, as part of a realignment that will see a total of eight PCs permanently stationed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR). USS Hurricane (PC 3) and USS Monsoon (PC […]https://www.defencetalk.com/5th-fleet-pc-force-grows-to-eight-ships-48287/

DefenceTalkThe Navy announced July 2 that it successfully conducted four Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) guided flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. All four missions accurately guided the projectile to the target approximately 45 nautical miles from the launch site. These flights, conducted in June, demonstrated; successful gun launch, GPS acquisition, navigation […]https://www.defencetalk.com/navy-successfully-tests-long-range-attack-projectile-48285/

DefenceTalkIn a matter of a few weeks, the U.S. Navy has begun a journey that could well revolutionize airborne operations at sea. On May 8, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) was successfully launched by catapult from the deck of the USS George H.W Bush. The UAS itself, the X-47B built by Northrop Grumman, was developed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-takes-first-steps-into-the-world-of-carrier-based-uas-48289/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Navy has deployed the MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish underwater unmanned vehicle for operations in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, following more than 30 sorties over 15 days of mock deployment testing in the Gulf of Mexico, the Navy announced June 20. Kingfish is an autonomous underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) used by the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mk18-kingfish-uuv-deployed-to-5th-fleet-48261/

DefenceTalkThe first Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Navy carrier variant (CV) aircraft, CF-6, arrived at Strike Fighter Squadron 101 located at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on Saturday. The jet is the Navy’s first 5th generation F-35 production aircraft. Strike Fighter Squadron 101 will serve as the F-35C Fleet Replacement Squadron, training both pilots and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-lockheed-martin-f-35c-reports-to-the-navy-48235/

DefenceTalkThe RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) completed its first East Coast flight from Webster Field Annex on June 12, marking the start of the next phase of test for the program. A team from the Navy and Marine Corps STUAS program office (PMA-263) here and industry partner Insitu, Inc., are conducting flight operations […]https://www.defencetalk.com/rq-21a-small-uas-completes-first-east-coast-flight-48109/

DefenceTalkChina’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has left its homeport of Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province to conduct scientific experiments and sea training, naval authorities said Tuesday. This was the first time for the carrier to leave its homeport to conduct training voyage since it anchored there in February, according to the People’s Liberation […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-first-aircraft-carrier-leaves-homeport-for-sea-trials-48077/

DefenceTalkUSS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) conducted the first aircraft carrier-borne end-to-end at-sea test of the Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) System, the Navy announced, June 6. The SSTD System combines the passive detection capability of the Torpedo Warning System that not only finds torpedoes, but also classifies and tracks them, with the hard-kill […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-carrier-countermeasure-anti-torpedo-launched-48053/

DefenceTalkThe 29th of May 2013 was a great day for European collaboration and for Italy. One of the most significant FREMM Program High Level Objective was achieved. At Fincantieri-Muggiano premises (La Spezia) the Italian Frigate “Carlo BERGAMINI” was accepted by OCCAR and delivered to the Italian Navy. The vessel – whose overall design started in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-italian-fremm-frigate-delivered-48036/