Destroyers Maxed Out, Navy Looks To New Hulls: Power For Radars & Lasers

Destroyers Maxed Out, Navy Looks To New Hulls: Power For Radars & Lasers
Destroyers Maxed Out, Navy Looks To New Hulls: Power For Radars & Lasers

ARLINGTON: The Navy has crammed as much electronics as it can into its new DDG-51 Flight III destroyers now beginning construction, Rear Adm. William Galinis said this morning. That drives the service towards a new Large Surface Combatant that can comfortably accommodate the same high-powered radars, as well as future weapons such as lasers, on…

The Next Pacific War: Lessons From Wake Island For The PLA

The Next Pacific War: Lessons From Wake Island For The PLA
The Next Pacific War: Lessons From Wake Island For The PLA

China’s increasingly aggressive rise puts the Pacific theater in play in a way it hasn’t been since 1945. In this essay, Singaporean scholar Ben Ho Wan Beng and retired US Marine Gary Lehmann look at what a critical but overlooked World War II battle has to tell us about the potential strengths — and weaknesses — of the Marine Corps’s new concept for waging the next Pacific war. — the editors

Navy Needs Plan To Update Old Ships’ Weapons: Hill Staff

Navy Needs Plan To Update Old Ships’ Weapons: Hill Staff
Navy Needs Plan To Update Old Ships’ Weapons: Hill Staff

“What’s missing at this point is what the Navy’s modernization strategy is,” the staffer said. The ships in question have enough margin for growth that they could accommodate upgrades, but how much does it cost to keep upgrading old ships? How does the cost:benefit ratio of such upgrades compare to spending the same amount on new vessels? The Navy’s plan is appealing “philosophically,” the staffer said, “but the devil’s in the details.”

Keep Ships Longer To Boost Fleet Size: 355 Ships By 2035

Keep Ships Longer To Boost Fleet Size: 355 Ships By 2035
Keep Ships Longer To Boost Fleet Size: 355 Ships By 2035

Instead of growing from 284 ships now to 355 in 2052-2055, the timeframe officials cited in the past, the Navy could reach its goal in 2032-2035, said Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, chief of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted

Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted
Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted

WASHINGTON: In one of the largest coordinated international air operations in years, over 100 American, British and French guided missiles slammed into three Syrian chemical weapons facilities early Saturday morning, launched from an armada of aircraft, submarines, and ships offshore. The Pentagon was careful Saturday to say that the assault didn’t seek to topple the…

First Combat Laser For Navy Warship: Lockheed HELIOS

First Combat Laser For Navy Warship: Lockheed HELIOS
First Combat Laser For Navy Warship: Lockheed HELIOS

WASHINGTON: By 2020, for the first time, the US Navy will put a lethal laser on a warship. “This is a very big deal,” said Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a longtime advocate of lasers. “It is clear evidence of the progress that has been made over the last several years…

Navy Buys Lots More Fighters; Ships Up Slightly But 355 Not In Sight

Navy Buys Lots More Fighters; Ships Up Slightly But 355 Not In Sight
Navy Buys Lots More Fighters; Ships Up Slightly But 355 Not In Sight

PENTAGON: The U.S. Navy’s budget is growing by over $12 billion in 2019, and more ships are on their way – but not enough to get to the hoped-for 355-ship fleet any time before the 2050s. In unveiling its $194.1 billion budget for the 2019 fiscal year on Monday, Navy officials highlighted the increase in…

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,…

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow
LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

What good is a little ship in a big war on a big ocean? It can hide behind islands and in shallow waters, sniping at the enemy fleet — much like the PT boats of World War II or skirmishers in a Napoleonic army. That’s the US Navy’s newest argument for its much-criticized Littoral Combat…

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…

Vice ADM Rowden: Scapegoat?

Vice ADM Rowden: Scapegoat?
Vice ADM Rowden: Scapegoat?

WASHINGTON: After a string of firings and retirements, the highest-ranking naval officer yet stepped down over accidents that killed 17 sailors. But was Vice Adm. Tom Rowden truly culpable in the summer 2017 collisions, or is he a scapegoat for deeper systemic problems? Our expert sources frankly disagreed. The argument against Rowden is simple. As…

Top Gun For Warships: SWATT

Top Gun For Warships: SWATT
Top Gun For Warships: SWATT

SURFACE NAVY ASSOCIATION: As the overstressed surface fleet struggles to rebuild its readiness for great power war, it’s adding a whole new type of training exercise called SWATT. Modeled on the Top Gun program for naval aviators — itself created to rebuild dogfighting skills after heavy losses in Vietnam — Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training…

Navy In Midst Of High-End War ‘Renaissance:’ Vice Adm. Rowden

Navy In Midst Of High-End War ‘Renaissance:’ Vice Adm. Rowden
Navy In Midst Of High-End War ‘Renaissance:’ Vice Adm. Rowden

UPDATED: Adds CNO Vision CRYSTAL CITY: Despite collisions this summer that killed 17 sailors and called into question basic seamanship skills, the Navy is undergoing a ‘renaissance’ in high-end warfighting capabilities, the commander of Naval Surface Forces says. New weapons, improved training, and a growing cadre of surface warfare specialists — veritable “Jedis” — are making…

2018 Forecast: Can the Navy Say No?

2018 Forecast: Can the Navy Say No?
2018 Forecast: Can the Navy Say No?

The Navy and Marine Corps hit the wall in 2017 with an string of deadly accidents. The newly named Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, seems to be charting a collision course with joint commanders.