Navy Archives - Alert 5

Growler’s ALQ-264 Beowulf flew in 2025, U.S. Navy says

Posted on September 24, 2026September 24, 2026 by alert5

The U.S. Navy has confirmed that the prototype AN/ALQ-264 Beowulf, a new sensor for the Boeing EA-18G Growler, flew in 2025. The F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) disclosed the flight test on Sept. 1 while announcing that the Growler Block II Beowulf team had won a 2026 Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Commander’s Award for Technical Innovation.

A U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler assigned to the Electronic Attack Squadron 138 (VAQ-138) approaches a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron to conduct aerial refueling over the Pacific Ocean, June 24, 2024. The EA-18G’s vast array of sensors and weapons provides the warfighter with a lethal and survivable weapon system to counter current and emerging threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tylir Meyer)

Japan’s CH-47s reach Indonesia for the Self-Defense Forces’ first overseas firefighting mission

Posted on September 11, 2026 by alert5

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) transport ship Kunisaki arrived at Kijing Port in West Kalimantan on Sept. 10, completing an eleven-day voyage from the Kure naval base that carries three Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) CH-47JA Chinook helicopters into Indonesia’s fight against a wildfire season that has scorched hundreds of thousands of hectares since July.

Photo: Japan Ministry of Defense
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Ex-Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi begins voyage to become Indonesia’s KRI Gajah Mada

Posted on August 27, 2026 by alert5

Southeast Asia is set to gain its second aircraft carrier operator, following Thailand, which has held the distinction since it commissioned HTMS Chakri Naruebet in 1997. Indonesia’s turn arrived this week, as the carrier that will become its first, ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, departed Italy on Monday night bound for a new home port in Lampung.

Photo: LPhot Barry Swainsbury/MOD, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Germany sends P-8A to Indo-Pacific

Posted on February 20, 2026 by alert5

On Feb. 16, a German Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft lifted off from Nordholz Naval Air Base on Germany’s North Sea coast and headed east. It was bound for India on the first intercontinental deployment of its kind.

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Lawmakers grill military leaders at V-22 hearing

Posted on February 11, 2026 by alert5

American military leaders faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers on Feb. 9 over the V-22 Osprey’s troubled safety record, with accident rates spiking nearly 90 percent above historical averages and 20 service members killed between fiscal years 2022 and 2024.