Welcome to the CavasShips Podcast with Christopher P. Cavas and Chris Servello…a weekly podcast looking at naval and maritime events and issues of the day – in the US, across the seas and around the world. This week…we were at the Association of the United States Army exposition in Washington DC where we found a remarkable amount of technology that had both land and maritime applications. Chris and I will discuss what caught our eye at the show, as well as our conversation with Luke Savoie, president and CEO of Elbit America, who highlights their technology that has both land and sea utility.
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This Week’s Naval News:
US forces conducted precision strikes against Houthi underground weapons storage areas in Yemen on the evening of October 15-16. The Pentagon confirmed that the strikes included US Air Force B-2 bombers and added that “Navy forces” took part but provided no further details, although other reports said several destroyers provided electronic support. The Pentagon, in response to questions, also noted the B-2’s capability to carry deep-penetration weapons able to hit targets deep underground but would not confirm that weapons such as the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-buster weapon was used.
China on October 15th carried out a large-scale, one-day exercise that simulated a blockade of the island nation of Taiwan. Dubbed Joint Sword 2024B, the exercises involved forces from China’s air forces, naval forces, coast guard and rocket force, and was in apparent response to Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s recent pronouncement that, quote, “the People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan.” Further south, the Chinese aircraft carrier LIAONING and four escort ships continued to operate in the Philippine Sea.
The carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT returned to her homeport of San Diego October 15 after a nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific and US Central Command. Carrier Air Wing Eleven operated from TR, which in late June was ordered to the Middle East to relieve the DWIGHT D EISENHOWER strike group operating in the region.
The destroyer USS PREBLE arrived at Yokosuka, Japan October 12th to join the US Navy’s forward-deployed Naval Forces in Japan. PREBLE relieved the destroyer BENFOLD, who shifted homeport to Everett, Washington. In Europe, the destroyer USS OSCAR AUSTIN arrived at Rota, Spain October 15 to shift homeport to the US Navy’s Forward-Deployed Naval Force-Europe. OSCAR AUSTIN joins four other US destroyers already based in Rota, and a sixth, yet-to-be-announced destroyer will be added in 2025.
A US Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft crashed east of Mount Rainier, Washington on October 15. The wreckage of the aircraft, from the Zappers of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, was located within hours, but as of late October 17 the location and status of the two crew members remained unknown. The Zappers returned in July of this year from a deployment with Carrier Air Wing Three aboard the carrier USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER.
An at-sea demonstration of a vertical launch system reload capability was carried out October 11 between the US Navy’s dry cargo ship USNS WASHINGTON CHAMBERS and the cruiser CHOSIN. The demonstration, which involved the transfer of a weapon canister but not a live weapon, took place off the Southern California coast as Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro looked on. The system, called a Transferrable Reload At-Sea Method, or TRAM, aims to realize the Navy’s long-sought-after goal of efficient missile reload capability at sea. The TRAM includes several fittings that were not included in the system originally fitted in the 1980s to US Navy vertical launch systems; those early systems were not robust enough to withstand the rigors of operations at sea.
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