US Navy sub boss reveals new details on AUKUS Virginia class sub sales to Australia

US Navy sub boss reveals new details on AUKUS Virginia class sub sales to Australia
US Navy sub boss reveals new details on AUKUS Virginia class sub sales to Australia

Vice Adm. Bill Houston said the sales of in-service Virginia-class subs will be in 2032, 2035 and a newly produced sub in 2038.

Known for LCS, Alabama-based Austal USA starts submarine work

Known for LCS, Alabama-based Austal USA starts submarine work
Known for LCS, Alabama-based Austal USA starts submarine work

To fill in gaps in a burdened industrial base, Austal will build two modules destined for both the Virginia and Columbia-class submarines.

Navy Plans To Cut Ships, But Fleet Plan Remains MIA

Navy Plans To Cut Ships, But Fleet Plan Remains MIA
Navy Plans To Cut Ships, But Fleet Plan Remains MIA

Requesting “eight ships a year is not going to get to 355,” the Navy’s top budget official, Rear Adm. John Gumbleton, said. “All things being equal, if you have a 300-ship Navy and a 30-year lifespan you have to recapitalize it…so eight is not going to do it.”

Navy Gets $10.4B For Columbia Subs As Missile Tubes Fixed; Congress Keeping Service On Tight Leash

Navy Gets $10.4B For Columbia Subs As Missile Tubes Fixed; Congress Keeping Service On Tight Leash
Navy Gets $10.4B For Columbia Subs As Missile Tubes Fixed; Congress Keeping Service On Tight Leash

House committee wants to hold money back from DoD until it delivers shipbuilding plans, while putting the breaks on armed unmanned surface ships.

House Dems Block Wall Funds, Slash Sub, But Add F-35s

House Dems Block Wall Funds, Slash Sub, But Add F-35s
House Dems Block Wall Funds, Slash Sub, But Add F-35s

The House Dems launch the first salvo in what promises to be a long defense budget saga, and they are drawing lines that will be hard to cross.

Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan

Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan
Two LPD Amphibious Ships Cut From 2020 Budget Plan

Are big, expensive vessels like amphibious ships and carriers too vulnerable in a long-range missile war with Russia or China?

355-Ship Navy Takes At Least 18 Years: CBO

355-Ship Navy Takes At Least 18 Years: CBO
355-Ship Navy Takes At Least 18 Years: CBO

President Trump and the US Navy want a 355-ship fleet, but even if you double shipbuilding budgets compared to historic levels, it can’t be done until 2032, at least 12 years after the end of Trump’s current term of office. That’s the estimate offered today by the Congressional Budget Office. At a more sustainable but…

Welding Problems Fixed For Virginia Subs; Carter Tours Electric Boat

Welding Problems Fixed For Virginia Subs; Carter Tours Electric Boat
Welding Problems Fixed For Virginia Subs; Carter Tours Electric Boat

UPDATED with Carter statement, Electric Boat clarifications, Hill comment ELECTRIC BOAT, GROTON, CT: Shipbuilders are fixing the biggest problem on one of the Pentagon’s top priorities, the Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. As Defense Secretary Ashton Carter toured the Groton shipyard and talked up the importance of submarines, Electric Boat officials told reporters they’re fixing faulty welds…

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Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals

Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals
Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals

A new Government Accountability Office report scolds the Department of Defense for failing to figure out which rare earth elements are critical to national security — China controls the world market — and for not developing plans to make sure the United States has enough even though Congress passed a law telling them to five years…