Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1922 - Lt. Cmdr. Virgil C. Griffin, in a Vought VE-7SF makes first the takeoff from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV 1) anchored in York River, Va.
1941 - German U-boat U-568 torpedoes and damages USS Kearny (DD 432) near Iceland, resulting in 11 killed and 22 injured.
1944 - Naval Forces land Army Rangers on islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf in preparation for landings.
1989 - Following the San Francisco earthquake, 24 Navy and Military Sealift Command ships render assistance.


Italian admiral proposes exercises with Russian Black Sea Fleet

Italian Admiral Andrea Toscano proposes that Italy's navy make more calls at Russian ports and practice tasks in the Black Sea together with Russian ships, a Black Sea Fleet spokesman said Tuesday.

"We could practice tasks together, including in the Black Sea," Toscano, the head of the autonomous naval command of Sicily, was quoted as saying by the Russian spokesman.

A Russian Black Sea Fleet guided missile frigate, the Ladny, on Tuesday completed its operational call in the Sicilian port of Augusta.

The Ioniex 2008 Russian-Italian naval drills took place in the Ionian Sea on October 6-9.

Raytheon Awarded $165 Million for Light- and Heavyweight Torpedoes

Raytheon Company has been awarded a $165 million U.S. Navy contract to provide MK54 lightweight and MK48 heavyweight torpedo hardware, engineering and support services.

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will produce and deliver 228 MK48 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) torpedo guidance and control upgrade kits and 192 MK54 lightweight torpedo kits. Nineteen MK48 CBASS upgrade kits are to be produced for the Royal Australian Navy, and 100 MK54 torpedo kits will be delivered to the Turkish Navy via a foreign military sales agreement.



In addition, Raytheon IDS will provide associated services to support the Navy's operational requirements for torpedo programs.

"This contract extends Raytheon's established partnership with the U.S. Navy in the development of the world's most capable undersea warfare weapons," said IDS' Charles "Tom" Bush, vice president, Seapower Capability Systems. "We remain committed to building, testing and delivering affordable, high- performance reliable weapons systems that our customers can rely on, without a doubt."

Raytheon IDS is the U.S. Navy's sole production supplier for light- and heavyweight torpedoes, working directly with the U.S. Navy to meet the torpedo requirements of U.S. and allied fleets. Together, the U.S. Navy and Raytheon have formed a total enterprise partnership, Team Torpedo, dedicated to the design and production of the world's most capable torpedoes.

Raytheon's Team Torpedo combines manufacturing, design engineering, and support services expertise with the systems engineering and testing capabilities of Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) operations in Newport, R.I., and Keyport, Wash.

Both the MK54 and MK48 have undergone rigorous operational testing, including a recent successful torpedo sink exercise involving a MK48 CBASS torpedo fired from the Royal Australian Navy's Collins-class submarine, HMAS Waller.

Work on the contracts will be performed at Raytheon's Torpedo and Readiness Center, co-located with the U.S. Navy at NUWC Division Keyport, Wash., and at the Seapower Capability Center, Portsmouth, R.I.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Global Capabilities Integration, providing affordable, integrated solutions to a broad international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security.




Raytheon AIM-120C7 Air-to-Air Missile Enters U.S. Navy's Weapons System User Program

Raytheon Company's AIM-120C7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile entered the U.S. Navy's Weapon System User Program. During a landmark mission, two U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet strike-fighter aircraft fired two Raytheon-built air-to-air missiles -- an AIM-120C7 and an AIM-9X.

This was the first time the AIM-120C7 and AIM-9X have been launched by a fleet-assigned operational Super Hornet and the first time the U.S. Navy employed both missiles during the same mission.

"Firing the AIM-9X during the same tactical mission as the AIM-120C7 proves that our warfighters will be able to maintain their critical advantage in both the beyond-visual-range and within-visual-range fight," said Capt. Jeffrey Penfield, the U.S. Navy's Air-to-Air Missile program manager.

The WSUP firings were a joint effort with the Air Force's Weapon System Evaluation Program and proved the AIM-120C7 can operate in a joint environment. The WSUP firing also demonstrated the maturity of the AIM-120C7.

Both Super Hornet pilots were "very impressed with the new capabilities the AIM-120C7 and AIM-9X," said Lt. Col Terry Scott, mission commander and commander of the U.S. Air Force's 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron.

The missiles were fired by aircraft assigned to the U.S. Navy's VFA-143 squadron and were launched against a BQM-167A target drone during a joint mission with U.S. Air Force F-15Cs from Eglin Air Force Base's 60th Fighter Squadron. All missiles guided within lethal range of the target and were assessed as 100 percent successful.

"Raytheon makes a commitment to the warfighter that every missile that leaves the factory will work as advertised," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile System's Air Warfare Systems' product line. "We're pleased the warfighter demonstrated the missiles' reliability and capability in a realistic combat training environment."


Photo of the Day



The Australian support ship HMAS Success (AOR 304) and the amphibious ship HMAS Tobruk (LSH 50) steam in formation.

Gator