DefenceTalkRaytheon Company (RTN) is working closely with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) – Division Newport to enhance the features of the company’s AN/AQS-20A minehunting sonar. Together, the team is analyzing the system’s synthetic aperture sonar to fully optimize its ability to capture and process high- and low-resolution images of mine threats undersea. “Extending our […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raytheon-and-us-navy-collaborate-to-optimize-minehunting-sonar-65222/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Navy awarded a nearly $1.5 billion contract Aug. 27 to Boeing Defense, Space & Security for the procurement of 13 Full-Rate Production (FRP) Lot 2 P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Nine planes will join the U.S. fleet and four will join the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), who has been a cooperative partner in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-orders-additional-p-8a-aircraft-first-royal-australian-air-force-planes-65216/

DefenceTalkThe fast-attack submarine USS Seawolf (SSN 21) returned to its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton Aug. 21, following a six-month deployment. During the deployment, Seawolf conducted routine submarine operations, which included scheduled under-ice transits and under-ice operations. “The crew performed superbly on multiple operations in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility,” said Cmdr. Jeff Bierley, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uss-seawolf-ssn-21-completes-six-month-arctic-deployment-65210/

DefenceTalkNorthrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy successfully demonstrated endurance capabilities with the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. On a planned 10+ hour flight and range out to 150 nautical miles flight from Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, the MQ-8C Fire Scout achieved 11 hours with over an hour of fuel in reserve. The long […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-demonstrates-endurance-on-the-mq-8c-fire-scout-65168/

DefenceTalkNAS PATUXENT RIVER: The Navy began initial integration testing of its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Aug. 12 at Patuxent River’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 facility. The program’s flight test team conducted missile load and fit checks using a mass simulator vehicle, designed to emulate LRASM, in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-begins-lrasm-fa-18-integration-testing-65093/

DefenceTalkChina is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. Observers of Chinese and U.S. military forces view China’s improving naval capabilities as posing a potential challenge in the Western Pacific to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve and maintain control of blue-water […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-naval-modernization-implications-for-us-navy-capabilities-3-64983/

DefenceTalkUS Navy officials are pinning their hopes on laser and directed-energy weapons, claiming that lasers would even replace some existing missile systems, providing a much higher rate of annihilation. The US Navy is considering the possibility to equip America’s next-generation aircraft carriers with powerful laser weapons, according to US journalist Zachary Keck, who has interned […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-plans-to-equip-next-generation-aircraft-carriers-with-laser-weapons-64629/

DefenceTalkThe US Navy’s worst nightmare is about to come true: new technologies will deal a severe blow to the ability of American stealth submarines to vanish beneath the waters without a trace, Professor of Strategy at the Naval War College James Holmes stressed. US atomic stealth submarines have long enjoyed their unbeatable advantage to remain […]https://www.defencetalk.com/invisible-no-more-us-stealth-subs-to-lose-unbeatable-advantage-64555/

DefenceTalkHuntington Ingalls Industries (HII) received a $3.35 billion contract award for the detail design and construction of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers. The work will be performed at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The company also received a $941 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/hii-awarded-contract-for-design-of-aircraft-carrier-cvn-79-64419/

DefenceTalkHuntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that the newest Virginia-class submarine, John Warner (SSN 785), successfully completed its initial sea trials on Saturday. Sea trials are aggressive operational tests that demonstrate the submarine’s capabilities at sea. John Warner, the first Virginia-class submarine to be named for a person, is being built as part of a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/virginia-class-submarine-john-warner-ssn-785-successfully-completes-initial-sea-trials-64340/