Bigger Debt Means Smaller Budgets (But We Need More Shipyards): DoD Officials

Bigger Debt Means Smaller Budgets (But We Need More Shipyards): DoD Officials
Bigger Debt Means Smaller Budgets (But We Need More Shipyards): DoD Officials

Even as one official warned that budget pressures would squeeze the budget, another said the nation must expand the defense industrial base to build a 355-ship Navy.

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…

Robot Wolfpacks: The Faster, Cheaper 355-Ship Fleet

Robot Wolfpacks: The Faster, Cheaper 355-Ship Fleet
Robot Wolfpacks: The Faster, Cheaper 355-Ship Fleet

Smaller unmanned vessels will act as expendable scouts and decoys, larger ones — over 50 meters — will carry masses of missiles, while manned ships will carry both the largest systems and the human beings essential for rapid adaptation in combat.

Marines, Navy Wrestle With How To Upgun Amphibs

Marines, Navy Wrestle With How To Upgun Amphibs
Marines, Navy Wrestle With How To Upgun Amphibs

The Marines want Vertical Launch System missile tubes on their new amphibious ships — but the Navy isn’t planning to leave room for them.

Saudis Save Wisconsin Shipbuilder: Fills Gap Between LCS & Frigates At Marinette

Saudis Save Wisconsin Shipbuilder: Fills Gap Between LCS & Frigates At Marinette
Saudis Save Wisconsin Shipbuilder: Fills Gap Between LCS & Frigates At Marinette

WASHINGTON: Four years after Lockheed Martin inked a $11.2 billion deal to sell Saudi Arabia an upgunned variant of its Littoral Combat Ship, the company is starting work on the first vessel later this year, a company official confirmed Wednesday. The work on four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants will take place at Fincantieri-owned Marinette Marine in…

Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain

Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain
Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain

WASHINGTON: After years of delays, budget fights, and searing debates over the role that the ship will play, three Littoral Combat Ships will head out on their first deployments this year. “We’re deploying LCS this year. It’s happening. Two ships are going on the West Coast, one ship is going on the East Coast,” said…

Pentagon Approves Two-Carrier Buy As Fixes Continue to Navy’s Priciest Ship

Pentagon Approves Two-Carrier Buy As Fixes Continue to Navy’s Priciest Ship
Pentagon Approves Two-Carrier Buy As Fixes Continue to Navy’s Priciest Ship

Congress is evaluating the proposal to issue a $24 billion contract for the Navy’s next two carriers, as the service looks at months of work to fix ongoing problems with the Ford-class’s first ship.

Navy To Trump: ‘Don’t Knock Us Over’ With Budget Cuts

Navy To Trump: ‘Don’t Knock Us Over’ With Budget Cuts
Navy To Trump: ‘Don’t Knock Us Over’ With Budget Cuts

“The waste would be absolutely stunning,” Secretary Spenser said. To cut the already-completed 2020 budget plan so steeply on such little notice, he said, “some of the scenarios will make your eyes water for what we will have to do” in his shipbuilding and maintenance accounts.

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…

European Navies: Stepping Back Into the Game At Euronaval

European Navies: Stepping Back Into the Game At Euronaval
European Navies: Stepping Back Into the Game At Euronaval

Two years have passed since Le Bourget hosted the last Euronaval show, two years during which the maritime world has become increasingly multipolar. For example, just in the submarine business, more than 40 countries are nowadays involved. In the meantime, Russia added 28 new ships to its fleet in 2018 alone, while China, with a…

Navy Rushes To Check Contractors After Submarine ‘Debacle’

Navy Rushes To Check Contractors After Submarine ‘Debacle’
Navy Rushes To Check Contractors After Submarine ‘Debacle’

The 12-hull, $128 billion Columbia class program is the Navy’s cornerstone project not only for a new class of submarines, but also for the United States’ nuclear triad, which relies on a mix of air, land, and sea-launched nuclear missiles.

UK’s Big Defense Spending Push — and Brexit — Under Fire

UK’s Big Defense Spending Push — and Brexit — Under Fire
UK’s Big Defense Spending Push — and Brexit — Under Fire

A British defense official talked up the good news about British defense spending in DC this week — including on many US-built weapons — but some dark clouds hang over the ambitious plan.

Inhofe Wants 355 Ship Navy, But Headwinds Remain

Inhofe Wants 355 Ship Navy, But Headwinds Remain
Inhofe Wants 355 Ship Navy, But Headwinds Remain

WASHINGTON: President Trump has just issued orders to cut the defense budget, and hasn’t tweeted for a while about his campaign pledge to build a bigger Navy, but the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee wants to get a 355-ship fleet back on the agenda. Jim Inhofe — who’s likely to retain the SASC chairmanship…