Navy Adds Attack Sub For 2020, But Shipyard Challenges Loom

Navy Adds Attack Sub For 2020, But Shipyard Challenges Loom
Navy Adds Attack Sub For 2020, But Shipyard Challenges Loom

The Navy is set to release plans to buy an extra fast-attack sub, another destroyer, and a handful of unmanned boats. Next step: Congress.

Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan

Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan
Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan

Are big, expensive vessels like amphibious ships and carriers too vulnerable in a long-range missile war with Russia or China?

Navy’s New Nuke Sub On Track; Early Problems Fixed

Navy’s New Nuke Sub On Track; Early Problems Fixed
Navy’s New Nuke Sub On Track; Early Problems Fixed

CAPITOL HILL The head of the Navy’s Columbia-class nuclear submarine program says that the program, despite earlier concerns over cost, schedule, and industrial base issues, is set to meet its goal of a first deployment in 2031, putting the service’s most expensive and consequential program on track. The boats will come just in time to…

Whither Nuclear Command, Control & Communications?

Whither Nuclear Command, Control & Communications?
Whither Nuclear Command, Control & Communications?

Most of the system that allows the president to launch nuclear weapons and to know what the enemy is doing with theirs is ancient. No one yet agrees what it must replaced with. And no one knows how much it will cost, although late last month the Congressional Budget Office issued an estimate of $77 billion.

No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play

No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play
No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past years playing defense,” Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, director of surface warfare, said at the West 2019 conference here. “The best defense is a good offense, and the idea that we will go after the threat — at range — is something that we have to be able to do.”

India Is Going Big on New Fighters; Lockheed, Boeing Pledge Indian Plants

India Is Going Big on New Fighters; Lockheed, Boeing Pledge Indian Plants
India Is Going Big on New Fighters; Lockheed, Boeing Pledge Indian Plants

Boeing, Lockheed, Dassault Aviation of France, the European Eurofighter consortium, Sweden’s Saab, and United Aircraft Corporation of Russia are all jockeying for position for an Indian fighter contract worth $15 billion for 110 planes, and an $8 billion navy program of around 60 aircraft.

Israel Boosts Protection Of Gas Fields, Shipping

Israel Boosts Protection Of Gas Fields, Shipping
Israel Boosts Protection Of Gas Fields, Shipping

TEL AVIV: With over 80 percent of Israeli’s commerce carried by sea and its offshore gas fields crucial to the economy, the country is boosting spending on protecting its shipping lanes, littorals and ports with an array of weapons including underwater capabilities, heavily armed patrol boats and new submarines. Hezbollah sees the large natural gas…

‘Global Zero’ Double Standard For Nuclear Weapons

‘Global Zero’ Double Standard For Nuclear Weapons
‘Global Zero’ Double Standard For Nuclear Weapons

In the coming clash between President Trump’s $750 billion defense budget and House Democrats’ desire to cut Pentagon spending, especially on nuclear weapons, there will be tremendous fiscal pressure to shortchange the almost $30 billion annual cost to modernize America’s strategic deterrent. The ideological cover for such penny-wise, pound-foolish cuts is the so-called Global Zero…

Acting SecDef Shanahan’s First Message: “China, China, China.”

Acting SecDef Shanahan’s First Message: “China, China, China.”
Acting SecDef Shanahan’s First Message: “China, China, China.”

PENTAGON: In his first day on the job, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan gathered civilian leaders of the military services to deliver a simple message: “China, China, China.”

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile
Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.

Three Attack Subs ‘Not Certified To Dive’; Navy F-35s at 15 Percent Readiness

Three Attack Subs ‘Not Certified To Dive’; Navy F-35s at 15 Percent Readiness
Three Attack Subs ‘Not Certified To Dive’; Navy F-35s at 15 Percent Readiness

CAPITOL HILL: Navy readiness is “heading in the wrong direction,” the Government Accountability Office told the Senate this morning, with only 15 percent of Navy F-35Cs rated “fully mission capable.” At the same hearing, a four-star admiral acknowledged three nuclear-powered attack submarines were still stuck awaiting overhaul, with the USS Boise expected to be out of action…

New Second Fleet To Stay Lean, Unpredictable, Commander Says; & Watching China

New Second Fleet To Stay Lean, Unpredictable, Commander Says; & Watching China
New Second Fleet To Stay Lean, Unpredictable, Commander Says; & Watching China

The Arctic will become increasingly crowded in the coming years, and the US Navy’s Second Fleet is making it a priority to get up there more often.

Zumwalt Close to Losing Gun, But Open to EW and Directed Energy

Zumwalt Close to Losing Gun, But Open to EW and Directed Energy
Zumwalt Close to Losing Gun, But Open to EW and Directed Energy

WASHINGTON: The once-revolutionary prospects of the Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer continue to be whittled away. Having lost some of its touted stealth capabilities and suffered a series of engine and electrical problems, now it’s likely to ditch its long-troubled gun. The Advanced Gun System on the Zumwalt never lived up to its billing. When the Navy…

Russians Tried to Jam NATO Exercise; Swedes Say They’ve Seen This Before

Russians Tried to Jam NATO Exercise; Swedes Say They’ve Seen This Before
Russians Tried to Jam NATO Exercise; Swedes Say They’ve Seen This Before

The Russians played around at the edges of this month’s Trident Juncture exercise in Norway, but that was to be expected. New moves in the Baltic Sea, however, have some concerned.