– AOL Defense – It’s not a Nobel Prize, but the Packard Award matters in the big-dollar world of defense procurement. Last week, utterly overshadowed by elections, the Department of Defense awarded the Packard to the Navy’s DDG-51 destroyer, the sleek grey mainstay of the fleet.

– Defense News – Preparations are continuing to base four U.S. Navy destroyers in Rota, Spain, beginning in fiscal 2014 — a move that will allow the ships to provide a near-continuous ballistic-missile defense (BMD) shield for Europe. And while the U.S. remains the only nation so far able to field a sea-based BMD system, the nation’s top naval officer sees roles other navies can play to support the mission.

– BBC – After more than 50 years of loyal service, the US Navy tells BBC Future it is ready to replace its pods of highly trained sea mammals with cheaper robots.

– The Independent – While the US Air Force’s drones have been firing all sorts of air-to-surface missiles and bombs for roughly a decade now, the Navy took a big step toward getting in on the action last week when it launched six Israeli-made Spike missiles from an unmanned 36-foot motorboat.

– AOL Defense – This Saturday the Navy will christen its newest nuclear-powered submarine, the $2.6 billion USS Minnesota at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. Countless movies have cemented the popular image of subs as stealthy underwater killers, stalking hapless surface vessels with periscope and torpedo. But today’s Navy is experimenting with launching robotic mini-subs and even unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Virginia-class attack subs like the Minnesota.

– Aviation Week – The U.S. Navy would like to develop an underwater system similar to the Aegis shield that protects its surface ships with a bubble of situational awareness, says Navy Oceanographer Rear Adm. Jonathan White, director of oceanography, space and maritime domain awareness.

– AOL Defense – A christening of a ship of the line is rare. When it happens, thoughts of how that ship might be used, where it might operate and how it might make new naval history are part of the excitement.

– Wired – She’s 844 feet long, 106 feet wide and displaces 45,000 tons of water. The future USS America, christened in Mississippi on Saturday, is technically an amphibious assault ship, a type of vessel optimized for carrying Marines into battle. But subtle changes under America‘s steel skin mean she can double as a small aircraft carrier, capable of sustaining a short air war all on her own.

– San Diego Union Tribune – Hey, sailor, what’s your job on the ship? If the vessel is the Fort Worth, the U.S. Navy’s third and newest littoral combat ship, the answer may be: Which job?

– San Diego Union Tribune – Third in littoral combat line represents lessons learned from 2 prototypes.

– Wired – The precision killing of the three pirates by six members of SEAL Team Six, the same unit that would later kill Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan hideout, has rarely been described in detail. Retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, who commanded U.S. naval forces off Somalia during the Maersk Alabama standoff, devotes 45 pages of his new book Pirate Alley to the people, methods, equipment and even politics behind Phillips’ daring rescue.

– The Diplomat – A return to a familiar port of call serves as another reminder of the United States continued “rebalance” towards Asia.

– AOL Defense – Right now, the Navy is designing the ballistic missile submarine that will provide 70 percent of the nation’s nuclear deterrent until 2080. Yet even as the service prepares to award research and development contracts this December, the submarine community is deeply worried that the rest of the military is neglecting the program — which has already had to make some painful trade-offs on schedule, numbers, and capability. And the service has not even started work on whatever nuclear missile the new sub will end up carrying for the latter half of its life.

– Associated Press – A U.S. aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China Sea on Saturday in a show of American power in waters that are fast becoming a focal point of Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing.

– PBS NewsHour – A major international naval exercise last month in and around the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, led by the U.S. Navy with more than 30 other nations participating, located fewer than half of the practice mines laid at sea.

– Time – A US Navy Admiral tries to set the record straight on the Littoral Combat Ship.

– Wired – One of the first tasks the Navy expects to assign its forthcoming arsenal of laser guns: shooting down drones that menace its ships.

– Defense News – The Philippines on Oct. 8 said a former U.S. naval base facing the South China Sea could play a key role as a hub for American ships as Washington moves to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific.

– Time – The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is not only staggeringly overpriced and chronically unreliable but — even if it were to work perfectly — cannot match the combat power of similar sized foreign warships costing only a fraction as much.

– AOL Defense – The Navy will christen its newest amphibious warfare ship in Pascagoula, Miss. on Oct. 20th. The boldly-named, $3 billion America is a major departure from past designs — and, quietly, the Navy has decided not to build many more like it in the future.

– Defense News – Four Aegis missile cruisers scheduled to end their active careers in March will instead be kept in service, the U.S. Navy said Sept. 26.

– Aviation Week – A top U.S. Navy official is defending the service’s plans to replace its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine fleet, saying the Navy has the right design and boat numbers to execute the mission for decades to come.

– AOL Defense – The Navy is “on a roll” when it comes to shipbuilding, but the existing fleet remains under stress, the Chief of Naval Operations said today.

– Time – It’s probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

– Wired – One of the largest unmanned submarines ever built is finally performing sea trials. But don’t expect the U.S. Navy, which dreams of undersea drones that can span oceans, to proclaim the Proteus its drone sub of the future. Instead, Proteus’ manufacturers want to work with the Navy to test the software, sensors and power systems that will define those next-gen drone subs — and maybe use the Proteus as a stopgap solution until someone develops those long-range submarines.