DefenceTalkA US Navy guided-missile destroyer will remain in the Black Sea to conduct more exercises with allied ships, its commander said on Saturday, the eve of a breakaway vote in Crimea. The USS Truxtun this week conducted joint exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian naval forces just a few hundred kilometers (miles) away from the disputed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-destroyer-to-conduct-more-black-sea-drills-commander-59058/

DefenceTalkToday, contract modifications were issued to Lockheed Martin Corporation and Austal USA under their respective Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) block buy contracts to add funding for construction of two fiscal year 2014 Littoral Combat Ships each. These are the seventh and eighth ships fully funded for each contractor under its previously-awarded, fixed-price incentive “block buy” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/fiscal-year-2014-littoral-combat-ship-contract-awards-announced-58977/

DefenceTalkA US guided-missile destroyer is en route to the Black Sea but naval officials said Thursday it was a “routine” deployment that was planned before the crisis unfolded in Ukraine. The USS Truxtun departed the Greek port of Souda Bay Thursday to carry out joint training with Romanian and Bulgarian forces, the US Navy said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-destroyer-en-route-to-black-sea-for-routine-drills-58956/

DefenceTalkThe Lockheed Martin-led industry team officially laid the keel for the U.S. Navy’s eleventh Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Sioux City, in a ceremony held at Marinette Marine Corporation. The industry team is building Freedom-class LCSs for the U.S. Navy, and has delivered two ships with five others under construction and one soon […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lockheed-lays-keel-of-11th-littoral-combat-ship-58819/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Navy recently tested, for the first time on a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft, the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensor that will find hard-to-detect targets over long distances. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are developing and integrating IRST, an essential upgrade to the combat capability of the Navy’s Super Hornets. “Adding an advanced […]https://www.defencetalk.com/u-s-navy-tests-infrared-search-and-track-on-boeing-super-hornet-58800/

DefenceTalkThe United States will “help” the Philippines in the event that China occupies disputed islands in the South China Sea, the US Chief of Naval Operations said Thursday. Admiral Jonathan Greenert also stressed that the US would honour its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines amid a seething territorial conflict with China over the resource-rich […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-would-help-philippines-in-south-china-sea-navy-chief-50717/

DefenceTalkHarry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HST CSG) and French Navy Task Force 473 concluded five weeks of combined carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) Feb 2. The two strike groups began conducting integrated operations Dec. 26 in the Gulf of Oman and have operated together in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-french-navies-conclude-combined-operations-50245/

DefenceTalkUSS Donald Cook (DDG 75) departed her homeport of Norfolk, Va. Jan. 31 on her way to Rota, Spain, as the first of four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to be stationed there. “The U.S. has a historically strong partnership with Spain, and the strength of that relationship is exemplified today as the first of four […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uss-donald-cook-departs-norfolk-for-permanent-station-in-rota-spain-50240/

DefenceTalkThe Navy and Marine Corps’ newest small unmanned aircraft system RQ-21A Blackjack began its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in early January at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. As part of IOT&E, this first low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot of the Blackjack, previously known as RQ-21A Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft […]https://www.defencetalk.com/rq-21a-blackjack-begins-operational-test-phase-50187/

DefenceTalkU.S. and French aircraft embarked on the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91) began conducting combined flight operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, Jan. 14. The flight operations are part of an ongoing period of overall combined operations between the Harry […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-french-naval-aviators-cross-skies-decks-together-50151/