Build More Ships, But Not New Designs: CNO Richardson On McCain Plan

Build More Ships, But Not New Designs: CNO Richardson On McCain Plan
Build More Ships, But Not New Designs: CNO Richardson On McCain Plan

CLARIFIED w/ CNO response WASHINGTON: The Navy wants a 355-ship fleet. Can US shipyards build it? Yes, they can, the Navy leaders are insisting. But, the Chief of Naval Operations warned this morning, to keep production swift and steady, we should be careful about replacing existing designs — including the Littoral Combat Ship — with all-new warships…

Fixing The Ford, Getting Creative With Carriers

Fixing The Ford, Getting Creative With Carriers
Fixing The Ford, Getting Creative With Carriers

This week, the Navy finally announced a delivery date for the long-delayed and $2.4 billion over-budget aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford (CVN-78). “In hindsight,” said Adm. Thomas Moore, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, the Navy should have tested the Ford’s ambitious new systems more extensively on shore before installing them aboard ship. But building a…

WW II On Speed: Joint Staff Fears Long War

WW II On Speed: Joint Staff Fears Long War
WW II On Speed: Joint Staff Fears Long War

ARLINGTON: Military officers and analysts are increasingly worried that if a war breaks out with a major power — meaning China, Russia or both — the conflict would escalate faster, spread more broadly, and drag on longer than anything in recent history. Think World War II on speed, with no front lines or clear demarcations between…

Fix Readiness First, Shipbuilding Second: Navy To Trump

Fix Readiness First, Shipbuilding Second: Navy To Trump
Fix Readiness First, Shipbuilding Second: Navy To Trump

WASHINGTON: Sure, the Navy needs more ships, but first and most urgently, it needs to fix the ships it already has. That’s what Navy leaders are telling Donald Trump. “When the transition team came around to all of us in the building and asked us what we could do with more money right now, the…