January 2019 news

Naval Forces, Defense Industry, Navy Technology, Maritime Security


According to Lockheed Martin, The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Wichita (LCS 13) – the nation's seventh Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) – at Naval Station Mayport on January 12 2019, before a crowd including active-duty and veteran sailors. This milestone places the ship, built by the Lockheed Martin (LMT)-led team into active service.

The U.S. Navy appears to test brand new combat groups, combining an Alreigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer with a San Antonio-class Landing Platform Dock, to adapt itself to the Chinese Navy in their conflict emerging in the South China Sea.

According to MBDA, at the end of 2018, MBDA successfully demonstrated the use of the Mistral missile against fast boats such as FIACs (Fast Inshore Attack Craft). A number of foreign delegations attended the demonstration firing that was performed from a SIMBAD-RC automated naval turret firing from the land against a fast moving remotely-controlled semi-rigid boat more than 3 kilometres off the coast. The scenario was intended to be representative of the selfprotection of a vessel against an asymmetric threat (commando or terrorist attack).

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