US Navy

Raytheon is developing what is billed as a universal remote for the US Navy that will allow a single unit to control a wide range of unmanned vehicles, saving space onboard ships as well as making pilot training easier.

While historically it is perhaps the most common large warship, the US Navy hasn't a single frigate left in its fleet for the first time since 1943 ... and it's looking for a new one. So what will the frigates of the future look like and how will they affect future conflicts?

The F-35 Lightning II fighter showed off its capability during the latest Red Flag Exercise earlier this month. Flown by airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 4th Fighter Squadron, the 5th generation fighter took part in the aerial war games involving 3,000 personnel.

The US Navy has awarded Boeing a US$43 million contract to build four of its Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles. The 51-ft long unmanned submarines will operate autonomously in blue water with a range of 6,500 nm.

The third and last Zumwalt-class ship for the US Navy launched on Sunday at the General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine. One of the three largest destroyers ever built for the Navy, she was floated over a period of several days by moving her to a drydock, which was then slowly flooded.

The US Navy's eighth Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has completed its acceptance trials on Lake Michigan in the run up to commissioning next year. The future USS Billings was designed and built by Lockheed Martin and integrates new technology for littoral and deep water missions

The US Navy is developing a simulator to train aircraft carrier flight deck crews in a virtual environment. The expandable, immersive 3D technology based on video games allows flight controllers, supervisors, catapult crews, and watch stations to train together without the need for an actual ship.

​If you're trying to confuse an incoming missile, one way of doing it would be to place a swarm of radio frequency-emitting drones in its path. That's what the US Navy's tube-launched Nomad was designed to do, although commercial partners are now being invited to adapt the drone for their own needs.

Additive manufacturing is taking to the seas with the first 3D-printed part being cleared for installation aboard a US Navy nuclear aircraft carrier. The prototype piping assembly will be installed on the USS Harry S. Truman in 2019, where it will be subjected to 12 months of operational testing.

The US Navy has a new Head-Up Display (HUD) for combat divers that works even in zero-visibility conditions. Shadow NAV is a visor projector that mounts on a standard diver's half-mask to provide hands-free underwater navigation capabilities.

The US Navy is looking at a type of "artificial blubber" to allow divers to work in freezing conditions for hours on end. The approach uses an off-the-shelf wetsuit permeated with inert gases to triple a diver's endurance against the threat of hypothermia.

With a contract of US$805 million, Boeing has been tapped to build the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial refueling tanker for the US Navy to extend the range of its fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, and F-35C Lightning II operating at sea.