Navy Expeditionary News

The Navy’s Maritime Expeditionary Security Force (MESF) operates ashore, at sea and in the waters of harbors, rivers, bays and across the littorals to conduct maritime security operations across all phases of military operations by providing port and harbor security and high-value asset security inland, on coastal waterways, and ashore.According to Lt. Cmdr. Kara Handley, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command spokesperson, the Navy’s Maritime Expeditionary Security Force currently operates 34-foot and 40-foot patrol boats…

Combat craft are used by both large and small navies, and every navy, coast guard or maritime service operates some kind of boats.The U.S. Navy’s boats are used for a variety of tasks from personnel and cargo transport to ship repair and maintenance to environmental response.The combat craft range from pull sized patrol boats down to ridged-hull inflatable boats (RIBs) armed with machine guns. Boats include shipboard RIBs, maritime security boats, dive support boats, workboats…

The Swedish-built Combat Boat 90 (CB 90) has established itself with military forces around the world as both a warrior and a workhorse. The 52-foot boats first entered service in 1991 as troop carriers with the Swedish Marines, which is still procuring them. There are more than 250 operating worldwide today.These rugged boats are optimized for high-speed / shallow-draft operations in and around Sweden’s many coastal islands, but they have also proven to be ideal for a variety of other applications and operating environments.The CB 90 is 52 feet long, with a draft of just 2 feet 7 inches.

RIBCRAFT USA, a manufacturer of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) for law enforcement, safety professionals and military agencies, announced that it recently entered the production phase on its five-year IDIQ contract with the U.S. Navy to build the standard 7- Meter RIB.Under the multi-year contract, RIBCRAFT will build up to 278 of the 7-Meter rigid inflatable boats worth approximately $80 million. This is purported to be the largest single contract based on number of boats ever awarded by the U.S.

Mobil, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA on Thursday delivered the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32), the 16th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) delivered by the company for the U.S. Navy.Delivery documents were signed on board the ship and followed the completion of acceptance trials during which the ship’s major systems and equipment were tested to demonstrate mission readiness. The ship’s pre-commissioning unit will now prepare the ship for fleet introduction.“Delivering…

My first visit in 2007 to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) was an eye-opener. Having built a naval architecture career with frigates, destroyers and other large naval and commercial ships, I was eager to learn of the smaller craft used by the U.S. Navy and other government and military bodies. As my flight into Norfolk, Va. descended over Chesapeake Bay, I gazed in amazement as a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) raced toward Virginia Beach, slowed, glided up the beach and into its shore base.

Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) operates hundreds of boats all the way from a 7-meter Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) to a 78-foot patrol boat, as well as construction equipment such as cranes, bulldozers, pumps, cranes, vehicles and chain saws and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) equipment.Maintaining all of it comes under the watchful eye of Force Maintenance Director Dave Noel.“I’m the guy that fixes the equipment we buy,” Noel said. “Once it’s fielded, it’s our job to keep it operational…

The Navy is known for its big ships. It has a lot of smaller boats and craft, too—3,200 of them.The three primary stakeholders for these craft are the Surface Fleet, Commander Navy Installations Command and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Other stakeholders include Submarine Forces; Air Forces (which own the aircraft carriers); Naval Special Warfare; the Coast Guard; Naval Facilities Command and the Naval Warfare Centers.Boats and craft are procured and managed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Office for Ships (PEO Ships)…

The U.S. Navy uses unmanned and robotic underwater vehicles for a multitude of functions, including environmental sensing, mine hunting, and salvage. The Navy plans to evolve an unmanned systems operating concept that is platform agnostic and capable of operating in highly complex contested environments with minimal operator interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future. The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain…

The U.S. Navy announced it will scrap the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), forgoing repairs to the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship that was ravaged by a major fire in San Diego in July."We did not come to this decision lightly," said Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite. "Following an extensive material assessment in which various courses of action were considered and evaluated, we came to the conclusion that it is not fiscally responsible to restore her."Although it saddens me that it is not cost effective to bring her back…

Davit supplier Vestdavit said its U.S. operation has won a contract to deliver boat launch-and-recovery systems to two U.S. Navy Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessels currently being built by global shipbuilder Austal at its yard in Mobile, Ala.Vestdavit Inc. will supply a 2TDB-7000 davit system to each of EPF 13 and EPF 14, the latest vessels to be commissioned as part of the U.S. Navy’s EPF program. With EPF 13 due for delivery in late 2021, both ships will be deployed in the high-speed…

A sailor is being investigated for arson in connection to the fire that raged for four days aboard the warship USS Bonhomme Richard in July, multiple sources report, citing anonymous U.S. Navy officials.Naval investigators are focused on one sailor from the ship, an official said, adding no motive has been determined and no one has been charged, according to the New York Times.“The Navy will not comment on an ongoing investigation to protect the integrity of the investigative process and all those involved,” Lt. Tim Pietrack, a Navy spokesperson, told the newspaper.

Firefighters have extinguished a major ship fire that burned for more than four days aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) moored pier side at Naval Base San Diego, the Navy said Thursday afternoon.Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, Commander of U.S. Navy Expeditionary Strike Group 3, said all known fires have been extinguished on board as fire teams continue to search the 844-foot-long Wasp-class amphibious assault ship to cool hot spots and ensure no other fires remain.The vessel is listing…

The U.S. State Department approved the possible sale to Ukraine of up to 16 patrol boats and related equipment for an estimated $600 million, according to a statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Wednesday.The 85-foot Mark VI patrol boats would be delivered by Bremerton, Wash. shipbuilder SAFE Boats International."The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a modern, fast, short-range vessel. Ukraine will utilize the vessels to better defend its territorial waters and protect other maritime interests…

Boat launch and recovery systems supplier Vestdavit said it will deliver motion-compensated davits to the US Navy, following orders placed by shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO to equip two Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ships.The US shipbuilder’s San Diego yard will deliver ESB 6 and ESB 7, the latest in a series of ships which act as mobile sea bases to support mine countermeasure, counter-piracy, disaster-relief, crisis-response and other operations. Bergen-based Vestdavit in 2017 established Vestdavit Inc.

Shipbuilder Metal Shark and the US Navy are nearing the end of the operational test and evaluation (OT&E) trial period for the Navy’s incoming standardized “40 PB” patrol boat platform.Developed as the replacement for up to 160 patrol vessels deployed worldwide with Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s Coastal Riverine Forces (CRF), Metal Shark’s 40 Defiant design was selected in late 2017 from a field of seven competing shipbuilders.Metal Shark produced two of the 40-foot, welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse patrol boats for test and evaluation purposes…

As Congress wrestles with the budget, there is at least a bipartisan consensus that defense spending should grow, and that includes growing the Navy’s fleet. The current goal is 355 ships, an admirable goal, but an objective that faces many cost hurdles. The surface fleet (which excludes submarines and aircraft carriers) needs to grow in capability and capacity. The numbers of ships being procured or envisions would increase as the total n umber of ships increases, but the number in this story represents current program status.

Four U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets were awarded with 2017 Thomas B. Crowley Memorial Scholarships during yesterday’s Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards luncheon in Newark, N.J. Jenny Terpenning, supervisor, marine recruiting at Crowley Maritime Corporation, presented the scholarships to Midshipmen (MIDN) Joshua Cann, Vincent Policastro, Rebecca Snyder and Benjamin Starr while also formally recognizing 2016 recipient Chandler Chiappe, all of whom were chosen based on their academic performance…

Metal Shark won the contract to produce the U.S. Navy’s next-generation patrol boat, the PB(X), the replacement for the fleet of force protection boats currently in use with Navy Expeditionary Combad Command’s Coastal Riverine Forces (CRF). Subject to annual appropriations, the Navy intends to replace approximately 100 to 160 of its existing 25-ft. and 34-ft. CRF patrol boats with the larger and more modern PB(X) platform over the next 15 years. The Navy has placed an initial, immediate order for eleven of the new vessels.

The shipbuilding and ship repairing industry has always been a core strength of our nation. It has enabled the United States to protect and project its prosperity, power and influence internationally. A book in my office signed by shipbuilder William Webb illustrates the point. Mr. Webb inherited his father’s shipyard in 1840 and built over 130 of the fastest clipper sailing vessels; he later built the largest and most celebrated steamships of his era. Those were glory years for the U.S. maritime industry, an era when the shipping industry was synonymous with American sovereignty.

On Wednesday, January 25, General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), began construction on a fifth ship for the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD)/Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program. Designed to provide advanced flexibility and capability for sea-to-shore missions, the newest ESB will include a 52,000 square-foot flight deck, fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, magazines, mission planning spaces and accommodations for up to 250 personnel. Serving as a ‘pier at sea,’ the 784-foot-long ship is also designed to support MH-53 and MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft. The ship, ESB 5, is the fifth to be added to a contract between NASSCO and the U.S.

RNOV Al Mubshir, the first of two 72-meter High Speed Support Vessels (HSSVs) to be built by Austal Limited for the Royal Navy of Oman under a $124.9 million design, construct and integrated logistics support contract, has been delivered. Austal commenced construction of the HSSVs in August 2014 at its Henderson, Western Australia shipyard, with the second HSSV scheduled to be delivered later in CY2016, in line with the contract. According to the shipbuilder, the HSSV offers a range of capabilities to support naval operations…

Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), christened the amphibious transport dock Portland (LPD 27) on May 21 in front of approximately 1,000 guests. U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Christopher Owens, director of the U.S. Navy’s expeditionary warfare division, was the keynote speaker. “Marines love these ships,” he said. “They are perhaps the most versatile ships in the fleet. Portland is the 11th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, named for the largest city in the state of Oregon.