The US should take the "next Virginia class that's built, designate that to the Australian AOR, and [say] we're going to dual-crew it with Australian sailors and US sailors," Rep. Rob Wittman tells Breaking Defense.
“The key strategic risk remains we might need the SSNs much earlier than the proposed schedule," Neil James, executive director of the non-partisan watchdog, the Australia Defence Association, said.
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
The fact the Navy can extend some of its submarine fleet's life by several years is likely due in part to the time some of those boats have sat in docks awaiting maintenance.
Analyst Tim Walton thinks it'd be wise for Australia to field other, complementary undersea warfare capabilities such as "the Transformational Reliable Acoustic Path System and mobile sensors such as Wave Gliders with towed arrays to inexpensively monitor straits and ocean areas."
A video released by the Navy shows Harpoon ship-killing missiles launched by the Canadian frigate HMCS Regina and US destroyer USS Lake Erie tearing into the ship, along with a French-made Exocet missile fired by an offshore patrol vessel from Brunei.
PENTAGON: In his first day on the job, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan gathered civilian leaders of the military services to deliver a simple message: “China, China, China."
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
It's a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.
CAPITOL HILL: Navy readiness is “heading in the wrong direction,” the Government Accountability Office told the Senate this morning, with only 15 percent of Navy F-35Cs rated “fully mission capable.” At the same hearing, a four-star admiral acknowledged three nuclear-powered attack submarines were still stuck awaiting overhaul, with the USS Boise expected to be out of action […]
UPDATED: Mulvaney Wins Confirmation Thursday By 2 Votes; McCain Only GOP to Vote No WASHINGTON: In a move that took some by surprise, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain, declared his opposition to President Trump’s pick to run the crucial Office of Management and Budget. McCain is the only […]
[UPDATED]: WASHINGTON: Tomorrow is a big day for Navy submarines on Capitol Hill. A hearing of the House Armed Services seapower and projections forces subcommittee will focus on some of the knottiest issues in undersea warfare: – staying ahead of the Russians and Chinese. – getting extra funding for the Navy’s new ballistic missile submarine, […]
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
[Updated 4:30 pm] WASHINGTON: The US Navy has decided to scrap the fire-ravaged USS Miami, whose repair bill from arson had soared to $700 million from $450 million. It’s the first time the Navy has written off a damaged sub since the USS Bonefish burned in 1988, and it brings the attack submarine force down to 54 […]
UPDATED: Includes Info About Sub Deployment Skeds; Past Major Sub Fixes WASHINGTON: The Navy is telling Congress that the nuclear-powered USS Miami suffered $400 million to $500 million in damages from the impressive fire that injured seven and left the ship a smoldering mass at drydock. The estimate is being provided at congressional request and […]