NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command), Washington, D.C., has awarded three shipyards contract modifications worth a total of more than $202.6 million. All are firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification to previously-awarded multiple award contracts for complex and non-complex emergent and continuous maintenance and CNO availabilities in the Pacific Northwest. In all cases, work is expected to be completed by November 2023.
Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, has been...
Rendering of Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy is still working through a timeline to meet a congressional mandate to add Standard Missile 6 and the Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to future Constellation-class guided-missile frigates, service officials told USNI News.
A requirement from the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Navy Secretary to add SM-6s and Tomahawks to the Connies. The frigates, based on the Italian and French...
(l to r) Vice Adm. Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer, Rear Adm. Daniel Cheever, Rear Adm. James Downey. USNI News graphic
The White House has nominated the next admiral to oversee shipbuilding and repair, the next Air Boss and the next admiral in charge of naval education, the Department of Defense announced this week.
Rear Adm. Daniel Cheever was nominated for a third star and to command Naval Air Forces, as well as to lead Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. If confirmed by the Senate, Cheever is set to...
https://news.usni.org/2023/03/23/white-house-nominates-new-n7-air-boss-navsea-commander
USNS Apalachicola (EPF-13) underway in the Gulf of Mexico. Austal USA
SAN DIEGO – A logistics ship that Congress directed the Navy to build with the ability to operate autonomously delivered to the service on Thursday, Naval Sea Systems Command announced.
Spearhead-class aluminum catamaran USNS Apalachicola (EPF-13) is now set to operate in the Western Pacific in support of U.S. 7th Fleet.
“The delivery of EPF 13 comes after several successful at-sea periods for the vessel, including Unmanned...
The following is the December 2022 Government Accountability Office report, Military Readiness: Actions Needed to Further Implement Predictive Maintenance on Weapon Systems.
From the report
The Department of Defense (DOD) issued an interim predictive maintenance
policy in 2002, but the military services made limited progress implementing it
until recently. In 2007, DOD instructed the military services to designate a single
focal point for predictive maintenance, provide funding, and begin...
https://news.usni.org/2022/12/09/gao-report-on-predictive-maintenance-on-weapons-system
Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department boats combat a fire on board USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) at Naval Base San Diego on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
U.S. Pacific Fleet has released the results of an admiral’s masts held last year for the former leadership and crew members of amphibious warship Bonhomme Richard.
Former Bonhomme Richard commander Capt. Gregory Thoroman, executive officer Capt. Michael Ray and the ship’s senior enlisted sailor, Command Master Chief Jose Hernandez, were all...
https://news.usni.org/2022/11/16/navy-releases-admirals-mast-results-from-bonhomme-richard-fire
HMS Glasgow under construction. BAE Systems Photo
The United Kingdom Royal Navy is expanding its Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigate fleet as part of a $5 billion contract with BAE Systems, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Tuesday.
The contract will add five of the frigates that BAE’s Scotland shipyards at Govan and Scotstoun will build. Sunak made the announcement during the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
“We are investing in our fleet to ensure our Royal Navy maintains its...
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego on July 16, 2020. US Navy Photo
NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Through two days of testimony, defense attorneys sought to disarm the government’s case against a young sailor accused of setting a fire that led to the destruction of an amphibious warship in 2020.
The attorneys called on over a dozen witnesses to refute the Navy’s contention that Seaman Recruit Ryan Sawyer Mays deliberately set a fire inside the former USS Bonhomme...
An MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter from the ‘Merlins’ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 and fire boats assist in US Bonhomme RIchard firefighting efforts on July 13, 2020. US Navy Photo
NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The government’s prosecution against a young sailor accused of arson, which ultimately destroyed an amphibious warship in 2020, centers on one shipmate’s claim he saw that sailor where the fire started shortly before it was reported.
That’s the picture Navy prosecutors painted...
https://news.usni.org/2022/09/26/defense-begins-for-accused-bonhomme-richard-arsonist
USS Jefferson City (SSN-759) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Dec. 8, 2021, as it heads to Naval Station Guam for a homeport shift. US Navy Photo
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Less than a third of the Navy’s attack submarines have made it out of maintenance on time in the last decade as demand for the boats remain high, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command said on Wednesday.
“We’re really struggling to get submarines out on time. Over the last ten years, 20 to 30 percent [came] out on time,” said...