“The President’s Defense Budget Request is an outline and a starting point,” emphasizes Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Integrating commercial off-the-shelf computing on military platforms and how to make it work
The systems may be off-the-shelf, but the packaging for integration on vehicles and ships provides cradle-to-grave resiliency.
“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.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
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…
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON: More money for maintenance would allow Navy ships to stay in service longer, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command said today, and accelerate the fleet’s growth to the Trump Administration’s avowed goal of 355 ships by “10 to 15 years with a relatively small investment.” The Navy’s current long-term plan assumes most warships…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: The top Democrat on the House seapower subcommittee sees a bright future for submarines, a bleak one for the Navy’s cruiser modernization plan, and a big question mark over the controversial Littoral Combat Ship. I spoke to Rep. Joe Courtney yesterday as the House Armed Services Committee rushed to finish its first draft…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: As predicted, House Seapower subcommittee chairman Randy Forbes was swift to slam the Navy’s 2017 budget request. I asked him about the Navy’s proposals to deactivate a carrier air wing, sideline seven Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and replace the UCLASS drone program with a drone fuel tanker with “limited strike” capabilities, CBARS. Here’s what the fiery…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Autonomy changes everything about combat engineering
Sending robotic vehicles into the breach saves lives by removing humans from one of the most dangerous places on the battlefield.
UPDATED: Adds DepSecDef Explanation For Additional LCS PENTAGON: “We don’t have enough money to do everything we want to do,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work told me in an exclusive 85-minute interview in his E-Ring Pentagon office. “So what we’re doing this year, Sydney, is we are trying to prepare as many demonstrations on advanced…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. CAPITOL HILL: By 38 votes to 24, the House Armed Services Committee shot down a proposal to slow down its cruiser modernization plan. Offered by the top Democrat on the seapower subcommittee, Rep. Joe Courtney, the amendment stemmed from a request by the Chief of Naval Operations. In a letter sent to Congress yesterday, Adm.…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
PENTAGON: “Sydney, I don’t know how to squeeze it much thinner than we have,” the Chief of Naval Operations said. Adm. Jonathan Greenert was talking about the aircraft carrier fleet, but he could have meant almost any aspect of the Navy’s 2015 budget . “It’s a confusing budget,” the admiral admitted within minutes of sitting…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
At 1:30 am this morning – 7:30 pm yesterday Hawaiian time — the Navy’s newest missile defense system marked its second successful shootdown in a month. Under what Lockheed Martin called an “operationally realistic scenario” – more on that in a moment – the USS Lake Erie picked up the target with its Aegis Ballistic Missile…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The chorus of criticism facing the first ships of the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class calls for a little historical context to be brought to this debate. Almost all new ship classes experienced considerable “birthing pains” in their early days. This is not new. Indeed, the first six frigates acquired by the American Navy in…
By Robert D. Holzer
Throughout this presidential campaign, the candidates have barely discussed the most important elements of national security, the United States’ armed forces. We’ve tried to flesh things out, with the excellent force structure and budget analyses done by Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Analyses. But Mark had to work with very few…
By Mike Wynne