Taxpayer dollars fund all sorts of strange things, from mysterious drones to vacuum-powered wall-climbers, but one unlikely investment that’s kept paying off for half a century is the Navy’s Floating Instrument Platform. In its research mode, with sensor arms extended over the water, FLIP looks like an alien probe out of the sci-fi stinker Battleship,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The unmanned aircraft most likely to become the first to takeoff and land on aircraft carriers is moving to the next phase of testing, moving from Edwards Air Force Base to the Navy’s main operational test site at Patuxent River, Md. The X-47B, also known as the Navy’s UCAS-D, soared higher than 15,000 feet… Keep reading →

UPDATED: BAMS-D Crashes, Burns. No Injuries. PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: One of the Navy’s Global Hawks crashed and burned during testing about 22 miles from here Monday. The U. S. Coast Guard responded and set up a perimeter around the wreckage of the drone, which the Navy calls BAMS-D, for Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The United States, Britain and Mauritius have begun talks that may lead to the loss of ports, airstrips and listening posts on Diego Garcia, the remote tropical atoll that has played an important role in American maritime, air and space operations throughout Asia and the Indian Ocean for much of the last 50 years.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy has ordered that vacuum cleaners be emptied after a fire in one caused up to $500 million in damage to the nuclear submarine USS Miami while the boat was in drydock being serviced. The fire at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine, started in a vacuum cleaner that had apparently sucked up something hot… Keep reading →

There’s very little to say about this video, beyond the fact that is funny and enjoyable. The company that produced it is, according to the email I received, a Taiwanese company called Next Media Animation. The politics of a Taiwanese media company criticizing U.S. Navy spending are delightful. What other country depends more on the… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Includes Info About Sub Deployment Skeds; Past Major Sub Fixes WASHINGTON: The Navy is telling Congress that the nuclear-powered USS Miami suffered $400 million to $500 million in damages from the impressive fire that injured seven and left the ship a smoldering mass at drydock. The estimate is being provided at congressional request and… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Disaster relief, medical assistance, and other humanitarian missions can provide a low-cost way for the military to build US influence in Asia and elsewhere, a key part of the administration’s new national security strategy, but this “soft power” approach is complicated both by civilian aid groups’ suspicion of the military and by looming budget… Keep reading →

Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls announced at 5:11 pm today that it has settled a $2.38 billion contract to build LHA-7, the Tripoli, the second amphibious assault ship of the new America class (pictured), at its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi — and it’s a fixed-price contract. That’s a major achievement for acquisition reformers but a significant… Keep reading →

The Navy declared LCS-1 Freedom “fit for service” yesterday and on track for next year’s deployment to Singapore, while lead contractor Lockheed Martin says LCS-1’s shortfalls are largely fixed in the redesigned LCS-3, Fort Worth — but watchdog group POGO, whose reports have fueled Congressional skepticism, still has its doubts. “Earlier this month we have… Keep reading →