unmanned surface vessels Ranger and Nomad

Navy to Launch MUSV Prototype This Year

An industry team led by L3Harris Technologies is working toward a December target for completing construction of a prototype medium unmanned surface vehicle.

Edward J. Walsh
April 2022
ship

Tomahawks Getting More Lethal

Raytheon Technologies’ Missiles and Defense unit, longtime builder of the Tomahawk precision-strike standoff cruise missile, is recertifying the current inventory of Block IV missiles and upgrading them.

Edward J. Walsh
February 2022
ships

Aegis Baseline 10 for Joint Battle Management

Lockheed Martin Mission and Rotary Systems is working with shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries to prepare for initial lightoff of the Aegis combat system.

Edward J. Walsh
October 2021
software

The Navy Gets a Software Factory

The Navy recently established what it calls a “software factory ecosystem”—dubbed “the Forge”—a physical site for an effort that also will be virtual, engaging numerous contractors.

Edward Walsh
August 2021
artist’s concept of the Cooperative Engagement Capability

Cooperative Engagement Quietly Improves

Raytheon Technologies has won Navy funding of about $17 million in a modification to a contract for continuing engineering services.

Edward Walsh
June 2021
Artist Rendering - HELIOS

HELIOS Laser Heading for Flight IIA DDGs

The Navy aims to install HELIOS unit after years of researching lasers to advance ship defense against surface craft, aircraft, antiship missiles, and unmanned vehicles.

Edward J. Walsh
April 2021
The guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113) launches an SM-3 Block IIA Standard Missile during a ballistic-missile defense test in November 2020.

The BMD Combat Systems Revolution

In mid-November 2020, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and a consortium of Navy agencies collaborated to launch an SM-3 Block IIA Standard Missile from the Aegis destroyer USS John Finn ...

Edward J. Walsh
February 2021
The Navy took delivery of its first two new air cushion ship-to-shore connectors in September, including the LCAC-101 shown. Textron will build at least 12 of the craft, with the Navy planning eventually to purchase 73.

Going Ashore

The Naval Surface Warfare Center’s division in Panama City, Florida, has taken delivery of two new air-cushion ship-to-shore connectors (SSCs) from Textron Systems’ New Orleans shipyard.

Edward J. Walsh
December 2020
An artist’s conception of the Maritime Systems design for the medium-displacement unmanned surface vehicle, based on a commercial design by Incat Crowther.

Navy Awards Medium Unmanned Ship Contract

The Maritime Systems division of L3Harris Corporation is working on a final design of a medium unmanned surface vehicle (MUSV) and plans to deliver a prototype in early 2023.

Edward J. Walsh
October 2020