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On the bridge of the Fitz, the OOD was in charge. OODs on duty receive exact, timely, information from the ship’s sensors, including Combat Information Center (CIC) about the location, course, speed, and trajectory of all objects on, above, or below the surface. the Fitz’s OOD had precise warning, perhaps 45 minutes before the collision happened, that he was on a collision course. The OOD either removes the problem by changing course by one or two degrees on his own authority, or, notifies the captain who then makes the course adjustment. Surely, this OOD did none of the above. we...

Can a Freeper with experience "weigh" in please? I am beginning to think the common problem in the recent USN accidents is a totally calcified chain of command where no one has the authority to take action in a moment of crisis. someone knows there is a problem but has to ask someone who has to ask someone for permission to act. Isn't there ONE OFFICER on deck with the total and absolute responsibility and authority to alter course in real time to avoid collisions? Or is there no one person until way up the chain who can make a...

The U.S. Navy announced an “operational pause” and has begun a broad investigation after the destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel, leaving 10 sailors still missing, the second such incident in as many months. The response by the U.S. military signals the Navy believes it needs to examine whether there may be institutional problems behind the deadly collisions. Navy Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, made the announcement about the operational pause during a nearly four-minute video message posted on Facebook Monday morning. Adm. Richardson said he also ordered a broader investigation. “I directed...

A Tomahawk cruise missile hits a moving maritime target Jan. 27, 2015 after being launched from the USS Kidd (DDG-100) near San Nicolas Island in California. US Navy Photo TUCSON, ARIZ. — The Navy and Raytheon are close to signing a deal to integrate a new sensor into the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile to allow the missile to attack moving targets at sea, the head of the Navy’s Tomahawk program told USNI News on Tuesday. Once the deal is complete, Raytheon will start work to craft and install a sensor to convert a yet-to-be-determined number of Block IV TLAMs into...

The Royal Navy’s new supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and her battle group met the U.S. Navy’s carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the North Atlantic for an exercise beginning on Aug. 1, 2017. The 10-day exercise Saxon Warrior 2017 “allows both U.S. and U.K. naval forces a chance to hone our interoperability skills,” said Rear Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander of Bush‘s Carrier Strike Group 2. “Particularly important is the alignment of U.S. carrier strike groups and the U.K. carrier strike group.” Both navies — and one NATO ally — sent ships and crews to the exercise. But one key component...

Norfolk, Va. — The Navy’s search for a possible diver who was trespassing in the waters surrounding the piers at Naval Station, Norfolk, will likely continue for some time, a Navy official said. “They are still searching for the possible diver,” said Kelly Wirfel, spokeswoman for Naval Station Norfolk in an email around 2:30 p.m. Monday. “It will most likely take some time until they can clear the entire area,” Wirfel said. Norfolk’s piers and ships were put on lock down Monday morning after reports of a possible diver in the water. “At 9 a.m. this morning a shipboard watch...

The arrival of the USS George HW Bush in British waters to participate in exercise Saxon Warrior with the Royal Navy provided a useful opportunity to meet US naval aviators who have recently completed combat missions against ISIS in the Middle East. Although they are very different, inevitable comparisons will also be made between the Nimitz class CVN and the Queen Elizabeth class CVF, which deserve to be put in perspective. The US Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 2 have been in action in the Middle East for almost 7 months and there was a high tempo of operations with 99...

The three new Zumwalt-class destroyers are in trouble. Originally envisioned as a fleet of more nearly three dozen destroyers, and the weapons that justified them, the Zumwalts have faced delays, cuts and staggering cost increases. As the ships teeter on the verge of white elephant status, could they become relevant again by taking on a new role, that of a stealthy ship killer? The Zumwalt-class destroyers were originally envisioned as a fleet of thirty-two destroyers designed to attack targets far inland with precision-guided howitzer shells. Designed in part to support amphibious landings by the U.S. Marine Corps, the Zumwalts were...

It’s a big day for the 2,500-pound Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, LRASM. This morning, contractor Lockheed Martin announced an $86.5 million contract to build the first 23 production missiles – as opposed to test weapons – for use by Navy Super Hornet fighters and Air Force B-1B bombers. Lockheed also announce this afternoon that it had, for the first time, successfully test-fired a modified LRASM from the kind of launchers used on Navy ships. Ship-borne launchers dramatically expand the ways the US military can use the missile. LRASM has come a long way from its origins in the air-to-ground JASSM program...

A preliminary investigation into the collision of the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine cargo ship in June has revealed that the U.S. Navy is at fault. According to two defense officials who spoke with CNN, the crew aboard the USS Fitzgerald made numerous abysmal mistakes which led to the collision with the ACX Crystal in an area known for commercial shipping. The investigation is likely to result in recommendations for possible punishment, making the review “dual purpose.” “They did nothing until the last second,” one official said, speaking of the crew on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. “A slew of things...

“Our history is clear that nations with strong allies thrive, and those without them wither. My key words are solvency and security to protect the American people. My priorities as SECDEF are strengthening readiness, strengthening alliances, and bring business reform to DOD.” – General James Mattis (ret.), SECDEF Confirmation Hearing, 1/11/17 At current growth rates, China may become a comparable power to the United States in economic and military terms in the not too distant future. In this future world, China will be less constrained than it is today to attempt to coerce other Asian nations to its will.[1] China’s...

Indian Navy MiGs mounted combat air patrols defending a warship against US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets NEW DELHI: When Russia deployed its sole aircraft carrier, the Kuznetsov off the coast of Syria earlier this year, a newly-developed fighter jet onboard the ship had many Western powers operating in the region intrigued, if not concerned. The jet in question was the MiG-29K, a brand new Navalised variant of one of the most successful Russian fighters ever built, the MiG-29, a jet that's been in service with the Indian Air Force since the mid-eighties. But the MiG-29K is a very different beast....

USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Independence (LCS-2) This post has been updated to include the link to the full Request for Information. The Navy released the first formal details on what it wants in its guided-missile frigate in a new request for information to industry issued today. The new ship concept outlined in the RFI in many ways resembles the Navy’s previous frigate plans but also looks at upgrades like more powerful radars and vertical-launch missile tubes. The RFI notes the Navy is still seeking industry input on a variety of capabilities – including, how to incorporate missile launchers for...

USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class environmental research ship, attached to Navy intelligence as a spy ship, which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, in what is known today as the "Pueblo incident" or alternatively, as the "Pueblo crisis". The seizure of the U.S. Navy ship and its 83 crew members, one of whom was killed in the attack, came less than a week after President Lyndon B. Johnson's State of the Union address to the United States Congress, just a week before the start of the Tet Offensive in South Vietnam during the...

The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a sizable downstroke in what could turn into a program to finally build a smaller and less expensive aircraft carrier complement to America's increasingly expensive supercarriers. The provision includes $30M to come up with preliminary designs and cost options for such a ship, which then can be used to quantify the concept and how it would fit into the Navy's overall strategy. The newest supercarrier design, the Ford class, cost upwards of $12B per ship. Meanwhile the Trump Administration has mandated a 12 supercarrier force....

The U.S. Air Force is looking to extend the life of hundreds of F-16C/D Vipers, even more than we previously reported. At the same time, the U.S. Navy seems to have come to a similar conclusion with plans to buy more and better F/A-18E/F Super Hornet derivatives. Suffice it to say that the 4th generation fighter will be alive and well within the Pentagon's inventory for a long, long time to come. On June 12, 2017, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) posted a presolictation notice on the U.S. government’s main contracting website, FedBizOpps regarding production of upgrade...

76 mm Super Rapid by en:User:Ketil – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nansen-oto76mm-2006-07-03.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6255607 In the mid-1990’s I was working as a consultant to the Italian defense firm Oto Melara. Oto Melara’s name was made by its 3” (76mm) naval gun that took the world by storm. Over 100 navies globally, including the United States, adopted the 76mm gun for their corvettes, frigates and patrol boats. The original Oto Melara gun system fired at around 80 rounds per minute, which was more than adequate against the kinds of threats that were around in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. The gun could be...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy intends to buy at least 80 more Boeing F/A-18E-F Super Hornets over the next five years to address its fighter shortfall, a change from its previous on-the-books plan to zero out the aircraft program beginning next year, service officials said in congressional testimony today. The Navy’s written testimony to the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee notes the “Fiscal Year 2018 President’s Budget requests $1.25 billion in [the Navy’s aircraft procurement account] for 14 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft” and that, “with the support of Congress, we will also procure a minimum of 80 additional Super Hornets...

Studies are underway to “take a hard look” at putting eight mothballed Oliver Hazard Perry frigates back into service as well as extending the life of existing Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers to help the Navy reach its goal of a 355-ship fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said on Tuesday. Speaking before an audience at the U.S. Naval War College, Richardson said service leaders were looking at “every trick” to put more platforms into the fleet including bringing back some Perrys into service. “We’re taking a hard look at the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. There’s seven or eight...

This F/A-18F Super Hornet, belonging to VFA-213 "Blacklions" and operating aboard the USS George H.W. Bush in the eastern Mediterranean, is equipped with one uniquely massive and highly destructive payload. No less than ten 1,000lb GBU-32 JDAMs are slung under its wings. In addition, a pair of 188lb AIM-9X Sidewinders adorn its wingtips. A 400lb ATFLIR targeting pod is attached on its left intake station, and a 480 gallon centerline fuel tank rounds out its external stores list. Add in the four multiple ejector racks and the pylons, not to mention 412 rounds of 20mm ammo, and this "Rhino's" stores...