Key Dems Question Biden Defense Budget; Ship Fight Likely
“The President’s Defense Budget Request is an outline and a starting point,” emphasizes Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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."
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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 […]
More Maintenance $$ Gets Navy To 355 Ships Sooner: NAVSEA
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 […]
The Case for Donald Trump on National Defense
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 […]
Courtney Seeks Boost In Sub Numbers, Cruiser Compromise In 2017 NDAA
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 […]
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Rep. Forbes Decries Cuts To Carrier Wings, Cruisers & UCLASS In Navy 2017 Budget
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 […]
DepSecDef Work Details 2017 Budget: Offset Just Beginning EXCLUSIVE
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 […]
HASC Rejects CNO Greenert Plea On Cruisers At Markup
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. […]
Carriers, Cruisers, & LCS: CNO Speaks
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 […]
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Aegis BMD Passes Key Test; Multiple Launches At Multiple Targets Next
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 […]
Birthing Ships is Never Easy; Give LCS A Break
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 […]