Chinese carrier Shandong. PLA Photo
China’s pursuit of more aircraft carriers validates the U.S. Navy’s commitment to building more American aircraft carriers in the future, the U.S. admiral in charge of providing forces to the fleet said on Thursday. Read More
Virginia-class submarine Delaware (SSN 791) was moved out of a construction facility into a floating dry dock using a transfer car system in 2018. HII Photo
A group of senators pressed the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday to explain why her agency carries over approximately $8 billion in unspent funds year-over-year that lawmakers argued could be put toward building a second Virginia-class submarine next year. Read More
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) conduct a barricade drill on Oct. 28, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy is considering an extension of the service lives of the first few aircraft carriers in the Nimitz-class, the head of the service’s carrier program said on Thursday.
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Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks in the Pentagon Briefing Room, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 14, 2020. DoD Photo
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Defense Secretary Mark Esper is open to increasing Navy budgets to support a new shipbuilding plan and future force design, he said today in a speech at RAND Corporation’s Los Angeles office. Read More
The future Savannah (LCS-28) is floated down the Mobile River on Sept. 2, 2020, just days after it was christened at the Austal USA shipyard. Austal USA photo.
Austal USA is expanding the capacity and capability of its Alabama shipyard, doubling down on investing in its future in a way reminiscent of 2009, just before it won the block buy of Littoral Combat Ships that secured the yard a spot in the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base. Read More
With one solid swing, the ship’s sponsor, former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell christened the Virginia-class submarine Montana (SSN 794) as (from left) the ship’s commanding officer Capt. Michael Delaney and Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin look on. Newport News Shipbuilding photo.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic taking its toll on submarine construction at Newport News Shipbuilding, as the company president announced last month, the shipyard and the crew of the future Montana (SSN-794) have been working hard to keep the Virginia-class attack sub on track to deliver to the fleet next year. Read More
The following is the Sept. 8, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
An MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) idles on a runway at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam after arriving for a deployment as part of an early operational capability (EOC) test. US Navy Photo
The Navy is crafting common unmanned system enablers like autonomy, network standards and control stations that would fall outside individual program offices, allowing program managers to focus on range, stealth or other features that make a particular unmanned vehicle unique.
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USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) docks pier side in the port of Duqm, Oman in 2014. US Navy Photo
After seven months, U.S. aircraft carriers have resumed making port calls in Oman, U.S. 5th Fleet officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Rep. Mac Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, met with journalists from the Defense Writers Group, an association of news outlets with reporters that cover national security issues, at the George Washington University on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. GWU Photo
The final conference report on the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act won’t be ready until after the Nov. 3 election, the outgoing ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee said on Wednesday. Read More
