Naval

Defense News offers premier news and analysis of global naval warfare programs and technologies to keep military and industry decision-makers informed.

Taiwan adds minelaying ships to defenses against China

Such technologies are part of a strategy to deter any possible invasion from China, with its huge military and vast superiority in numbers of aircraft, ships and other weaponry.

4 days ago

US Navy works to speed up damage assessments, ship repairs

The Navy won't just assume that battle damage assessments and repairs happen during war games and live exercises. It wants to actually practice these skills on ships.

5 days ago

Naval

First Marine F-35C squadron deploys on an aircraft carrier

The Marine Corps hopes the F-35C’s long range fires and electronic warfare capabilities will increase its ability to operate in the Pacific.

Navy should be ‘offended’ by its own maintenance and manning faults, admiral says

Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said the Navy does not have the “luxury to do more with less.”

5 days ago

US Navy official says service is going ‘head to head with our adversaries’ all over the world

Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener shared how the guided missile destroyer Mustin shadowed a Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the South China Sea in April 2021.

6 days ago

Wanted: New missions for the littoral combat ship

Even as the Navy tries to wrap up testing of two LCS mission packages years after their original fielding dates, service leadership is also polling fleet commanders on alternate mission ideas for the LCS ships.

6 days ago

Surface warfare boss unveils strategy to create ‘more ready ships,’ better trained sailors

Here are the five lines of effort that could see the U.S. Navy's surface fleet become larger and more capable.

7 days ago

Navy reports improved ship maintenance, but is still falling short of CNO’s goals

On-time deliveries from repair periods has improved from 29% in 2018 to a projected 59% for 2021 -- but that's still short of the CNO's goal to reach no lost days to maintenance overruns by now.

8 days ago

Freedom LCS community to tackle mine warfare, grow its footprint in 2022

LCSs in Mayport have been limited to surface warfare operations in 4th Fleet since they kicked off deployment activity two years ago. In 2022, the community is looking to expand beyond that.

8 days ago

Iran seeks to grow naval power as it prioritizes asymmetric warfare

Experts say the buildup of naval forces in Iran represents a rising threat to its neighboring countries.

8 days ago

India’s Navy, private shipyards flounder as government gives preference to state-owned firms

The Indian Navy is unlikely to meet its goal of having a 175-ship fleet in the next five years due to a lack of funds and the government’s preference to award contracts to state-owned shipyards over private businesses, service officials have told Defense News.

8 days ago

Marine amphibious combat vehicles to return to waterborne operations

The Sept. 3, 2021, safety notice had identified a problem with the ACV’s towing mechanism.

11 days ago

UK documentary shows Russian submarine dinging British warship in 2020

A towed array sonar deployed by a Royal Navy frigate hit a Russian submarine during operations in the North Atlantic in 2020, the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

11 days ago

Navy says it ensured sub safety after fake strength tests surfaced, but won’t detail how

The Navy's actions came after a Washington state metallurgist admitted to falsifying sub steel strength test results for decades.

12 days ago

Workforce development, process improvements will make or break the Virginia-class submarine program

The submarine-industrial base is facing an increased workload even as it's already behind in deliveries, making it all the more important to get new processes and well-trained new recruits in place quickly.

12 days ago

US Navy avoided a 2022 ‘trough’ in submarine fleet size, but industry challenges threaten future growth

The Navy avoided a shortfall of attack submarines by extending the lives of older Los Angeles-class boats. Growing the force, though, will depend on industry's ability to continue building two -- if not more -- Virginia-class SSNs a year on top of the Columbia-class boomers.

2 weeks ago

New in 2022: These cannon-cockers are testing the Corps’ new ship-sinking missile

The Marines of the 11th Regiment are learning how best to employ the system.

2 weeks ago

China transfers secondhand submarine to Myanmar

China has transferred a former People’s Liberation Army Navy diesel-electric attack submarine to Myanmar, marking the first transfer of such equipment between the two countries.

3 weeks ago

Turkey opens bidding for three new frigates

Only local shipyards or foreign subsystem suppliers partnered with a local shipyard are allowed to bid, according to the request for proposals.

3 weeks ago

This company’s drone set flight-time records. But what it really wants is more work with the Pentagon.

The drone has flown anti-trafficking missions for the Navy and ice-measuring missions for NASA, and it's in the research phase of a possible anti-submarine warfare role, too.

3 weeks ago

With first shipboard radar now running, Raytheon looks to upgrade SPY-6 for distributed operations

Raytheon is already working with the Navy on a tool to net radars together for distributed operations, even before the first radar has hit the fleet.

3 weeks ago

US Navy completes final weapons elevator on aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford

The 11th and final advanced weapons elevator has been turned over to the crew, after the Navy has struggled to get them designed, built and tested for several years now.

4 weeks ago

Aircraft carrier Bush conducts first at-sea MQ-25 unmanned tanker demo

The MQ-25A Stingray tanking drone conducted shipboard maneuvers for the first time on a carrier, giving sailors a first peek at the vehicle as well as its handheld controller and shipboard ground control station.

4 weeks ago

Year in review: Top stories from 2021

Taliban weapons seizures, aircraft competitions and Chinese military modernization projects: Here are the top stories from the year.

4 weeks ago

US Navy Triton UAV returns from Guam, ahead of transition to more capable variant

One UAV will remain in the Pacific, as the second returns to Florida to support intensive training ahead of the squadron moving into a multi-intelligence variant in 2022 and preparing for initial operational capability in 2023.

5 weeks ago

Marine amphibious assault vehicles permanently pulled from deployments

Only 10 of 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion’s nearly 200 vehicles passed the more intense inspection.

5 weeks ago

Littoral combat ships in Mayport make the most of a year of restricted operations

The LCSs operating out of Mayport faced some restrictions while the Navy engineered a solution to their combining gear flaws, but the LCS Squadron commander says they've made the most of that time and established their role in the fleet.

5 weeks ago

US Navy fires laser weapon in Mideast amid drone boat threat

The Houthis have deployed drone boats into these waters, which can be piloted remotely and sent up to a target before detonating.

5 weeks ago