After 48 years of service, the Navy's last oil-powered aircraft carrier is en route to Bremerton, Wash., where it will be scrapped. The USS Kitty Hawk entered service as the first in its class in 1961, served six tours in Vietnam and became the first carrier to earn a Presidential Unit Citation.

Northrup Grumman says it is looking to scale down the SEWIP Block III attack platform for smaller ships. The system, built for large Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, could give smaller vessels the ability to conduct advanced passive detection of radiofrequency threats and make pinpoint electronic attacks on multiple targets concurrently.

The Navy is responding to a "dramatic uptick in [unmanned aerial vehicle] activity" in the Middle East by developing directed energy weapons, said US Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Bradley Cooper. The fleet is also developing unmanned systems to detection and thwart air- and water-based drones, and its solutions include the wind-powered, 23-foot-long Saildrone Explorer.

The Navy is conducting work on the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS St. Louis as it continues negotiations with Lockheed Martin over the cost to fix the combining gear for other LCS, said Capt. Andy Gold, the program manager for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship. Gold says a root-cause analysis suggests one part of the solution to the combining gear problem is to use a journal bearing instead of a ball bearing.

Battle damage assessment and repair efforts have become a more intense focus for the Navy, and the hull of the burned-out amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard is serving as a practice platform, says Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, the commander of the Navy's Regional Maintenance Center. Drills will now include physical practice in repairs rather than just pencil whipping, said Ver Hage.

Emission-free propulsion for inland and offshore operations is the goal for Germany's Proton Motor Fuel Cell and electric drive system maker Torqeedo as they work on a hydrogen hybrid propulsion system. The goal is to pair Torqeedo's Deep Blue Hybrid drive with Proton Motor's fuel cell technology.

Capt. Kevin Smith says the Navy still intends to begin construction in April on the USS Constellation frigate, but the service wants to ensure the design is mature enough to proceed. The design is very similar to the Fincantieri FREMM frigate, but the Navy required the builder to extend the hull to ensure optimal performance, Smith said.

The final stage of construction is about to start for the USS Lyndon B. Johnson, the Navy's third and final Zumwalt-class destroyer. The ship is now in Pascagoula, Miss., at Ingalls Shipyard, where it will receive its final outfitting and combat systems and undergo testing and activation.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has suggested the service take its time to fully develop the novel technologies slated for next-generation destroyers before the ships are built. Del Toro wants the Navy to avoid a repeat of the mistakes made during the development of the Advanced Gun System for Zumwalt-class destroyers.

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