CNO Wants More Cyber, IW in Navy’s Wargames

CNO Wants More Cyber, IW in Navy’s Wargames
CNO Wants More Cyber, IW in Navy’s Wargames

WASHINGTON: The Navy needs to increase both the number and complexity of its wargames, the service’s top admiral said Wednesday, citing rapid advances being made by competitors in cyber and information warfare tactics that will muddy and confuse future battlefields. While Adm. John Richardson didn’t provide any details to flesh out his thinking during an…

Navy Rethinks 355-Ship Fleet: CNO Richardson

Navy Rethinks 355-Ship Fleet: CNO Richardson
Navy Rethinks 355-Ship Fleet: CNO Richardson

The Navy may back off its much-publicized call for a 355-ship fleet and look at new options like unmanned vessels, the Chief of Naval Operations said.

Navy Inks Huge Ford Carrier Deal; Pentagon Flags Problems

Navy Inks Huge Ford Carrier Deal; Pentagon Flags Problems
Navy Inks Huge Ford Carrier Deal; Pentagon Flags Problems

WASHINGTON: The Navy signed a massive, $15.2 billion contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding this evening for two more Ford-class aircraft carriers, hours after a Pentagon report listed a litany of problems with the ambitious program. The contract pays for completion of in 2028 of the USS Enterprise, which began in 2017. It also…

More Missile Defense Ships, New Ground Deployments

More Missile Defense Ships, New Ground Deployments
More Missile Defense Ships, New Ground Deployments

Despite the Navy’s misgivings over having dozens of its ships sailing in boxes hunting for missiles, plans remain in place for more Aegis-capable hulls, as well as new radars, and mobile missile defense batteries.

The Navy Has Had Enough of Missile Defense And Sees Its Chance

The Navy Has Had Enough of Missile Defense And Sees Its Chance
The Navy Has Had Enough of Missile Defense And Sees Its Chance

WASHINGTON: The Navy is looking to get out of the missile defense business, the service’s top admiral said today, and the Pentagon’s new missile defense review might give the service the off-ramp it has been looking for to stop sailing in circles waiting for ground-based missile launches. This wasn’t the first time Adm. John Richardson…

Will Budget Crunch Pentagon Laser & Space Investments?

Will Budget Crunch Pentagon Laser & Space Investments?
Will Budget Crunch Pentagon Laser & Space Investments?

Despite increasing uncertainty over President Trump’s surprise proposal to cut $33 billion from defense, the Pentagon’s R&D chief says he’s confident more cash will be pumped into laser weapons and new space capabilities.

Arms Sales Way Up – But Trump Wants More

Arms Sales Way Up – But Trump Wants More
Arms Sales Way Up – But Trump Wants More

The United States signed off on arms exports worth $192.3 billion over the past year, a full 13 percent increase from the previous year — even as the Trump administration keeps pushing hard to sell more weapons, more quickly, to more allies overseas.

Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed

Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed
Halt Refueling Of Saudi Warplanes; Defensive Arms Sales OK: SASC’s Jack Reed

WASHINGTON: Stop refueling Saudi warplanes as they fly to and fro, bombing, strafing and generally laying waste to Yemen. Freeze the sale of offensive weapons to the Kingdom of Saud. But the sale of defensive weapons is another matter, Sen. Jack Reed told reporters this morning. The danger posed by Houthi missiles and other threats…

Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25

Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25
Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25

Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China’s layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China’s anti-ship missiles.

House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds

House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds
House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds

Legislators will probably loosen some rules on federal spending to help the Pentagon cope with Congress’s failure to pass funding bills until six months into the fiscal year. Budget dysfunction has gotten so bad it’s forcing even the famously strict appropriations committees to loosen the reins after years of resistance.

Navy Kludges Networks: $1M Per Carrier Strike Group, Per Deployment

Navy Kludges Networks: $1M Per Carrier Strike Group, Per Deployment
Navy Kludges Networks: $1M Per Carrier Strike Group, Per Deployment

SAN DIEGO: It takes a million dollars and at least 50 technical experts just to get a carrier strike group’s networks working right before a deployment, Navy officials said at the AFCEA-USNI WEST conference here last week. The Navy’s vision of future war against a major power — China or Russia — relies on secure, reliable,…

Navy Copes With Budget Chaos, But It’s Ugly: CNO Richardson

Navy Copes With Budget Chaos, But It’s Ugly: CNO Richardson
Navy Copes With Budget Chaos, But It’s Ugly: CNO Richardson

HERITAGE FOUNDATION: The Navy’s has been forced to resort to awkward, inefficient, even dysfunctional expedients to cope with Congress’s chronic inability to pass a proper spending bill on time, the Chief of Naval Operations said here this morning. “We do need stable funding, right, but the system has adapted….I wouldn’t say in completely healthy ways,…

Navy’s Fixing Itself, Congress Must Fix Budget: Wittman, Courtney

Navy’s Fixing Itself, Congress Must Fix Budget: Wittman, Courtney
Navy’s Fixing Itself, Congress Must Fix Budget: Wittman, Courtney

UPDATED from hearing and House vote WASHINGTON: The Navy is doing a good job addressing the problems revealed by last summer’s fatal collisions at sea, for example by filing criminal charges this week against officers involved, the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat of the House seapower subcommittee say. Now Congress needs to do its part and pass…

HASC Chair Thornberry To SecDef Mattis: Share Readiness Info

HASC Chair Thornberry To SecDef Mattis: Share Readiness Info
HASC Chair Thornberry To SecDef Mattis: Share Readiness Info

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon was urged today by one of its best friends on Capitol Hill to share more information about how ready American forces are for war, after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson urged more restraint in releasing information. “I think we need to talk more,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman…