Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford began testing the ship’s new electromagnetic aircraft launch system in Virginia’s James River on June 5, but before they can launch real aircraft, they have to practice. It’s not quite like a real, live flight deck, but it’s close. Gone are the cargo pants, brightly colored turtlenecks and helmets. Instead, a sailor in blueberries and a hard hat mimics the signals of a deck handler before the catapult launches a weight sled out over the river in a graceful swan dive. The slow motion impact with the water at the end is rather dramatic. EMALS testing began June 5, the latest step…
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This summer, a sleek new running suit makes it debut. The blue exercise attire features the latest in athletic apparel design and state-of-the-art fabric to make exercise in cool weather more comfortable. A wear test begins this summer for a uniform that one day may be worn by all hands. It is the latest design in the five-year effort to find suitable outerwear for the yellow-and-gold physical training uniform. It’s part of the Navy’s push to suit up sailors in “high performance” training gear. The running suit, a totally new design made by New Balance, is essentially a warm-up suit,…
The first F-35C test aircraft has left Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., for the first volley of carrier-suitability tests at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. CF-2, the second test aircraft delivered by Lockheed Martin to the Navy, arrived at Lakehurst on June 25 and was flown by test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Eric “Magic” Buus. While there, the airplane will be used for jet blast deflector tests, including deck heating, deflector panel cooling and other aspects. Shipboard testing is scheduled for 2013. But this isn’t exactly how things were planned, and this change-up, unlike others that have dogged the Joint Strike…
No, it’s not a doctored photo. That’s two — TWO — San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships operating simultaneously. To be fair, two of the other three commissioned ships in the class are also at sea. Mesa Verde and Green Bay are deployed. New Orleans just completed sea trials following a scheduled maintenance period. New York took part in the recent Fleet Week event in New York City and, as you can see in the June 9 photo above, is now underway, conducting unit-level training. But let’s face it: This is a rare pic — particularly since San Antonio is…
The oft-troubled amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio continues its journey from reclamation project to fleet-ready this week during the second phase of special sea trials following an extended maintenance period. The ship, the first in its class but deployed only once in its five years in the fleet due to widespread mechanical and electrical problems that forced cancellation of this year’s scheduled deployment, passed the first phase of the trials, held from May 17-26. Afterward, commanding officer Cmdr. Thomas Kait gave his ship and crew an “A+” following comprehensive testing of the ship’s propulsion, steering, electrical, navigation and damage…
The much-maligned amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio returned to Norfolk Thursday afternoon after 10 days of sea trials, and commanding officer Cmdr. Thomas Kait seemed like a very happy man during a press availability in his onboard cabin. “I would characterize it as an A-plus,” Kait told reporters. “I don’t know how many times I said `great’ or said, `This is the first time this ship’s done this in two years’.” Kait said crew morale was sky-high, “just knowing that their gear worked. All the hard work they put forth over the past two years. I know there were…
The Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is officially on shaky ground, as observers of military affairs learned Jan. 6 when Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern over “significant testing problems” and announced he was putting the F-35B “on the equivalent of a two-year probation.” Oddly, that same day, manufacturer Lockheed Martin said the jet made its first vertical landing — at the same base, Naval Air Station Patuxent, Md., where the jet completed its first successful hover test in March. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt6GXVD8Mu8&NR=1 [/youtube] Impressive. What can’t be seen, however, are the testing problems that Gates could lead to…
