Midshipmen with the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) stand at parade rest during the Second Class Parents Weekend Formal Dress Parade at the USNA, Annapolis, Md., on Oct. 7, 2016. US Navy Photo
A civilian employee of the U.S. Naval Academy tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the Navy announced late Friday. Read More
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) during construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. BIW photo.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Navy’s new requirements process that brings industry in early to refine ideas and conduct prototyping may have prevented the service from going down a costly path with its Large Surface Combatant, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command said. Read More
The following is the March 16, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Global Economic Effects of Covid-19: In Brief. Read More
CH-53Ks fly in formation from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on Jan. 9, 2020. Sikorsky photo.
CAPITOL HILL – Marine Corps leaders are looking forward to ramping up CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter production after military and industry leaders agree the program’s technical challenges are behind them. Read More
Seaman Sakyra Baker stands aft lookout as an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Feb. 21, 2019. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy’s request to end the F/A-18E-F Super Hornet production line after 2021 instead of signing another multiyear production contract was not to save money, but rather to allow manufacturer Boeing to convert the production line from building new planes to overhauling old ones at a rate of 40 per year. Read More
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) during construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. BIW photo
Two senior lawmakers said they don’t have enough information to evaluate the Trump administration’s “hard rudder turn” on its shipbuilding budget that was presented last month to Congress. Read More
U.S. Northern Command border support operations at Bisbee, Arizona on Nov. 6, 2018. US Army Photo
This post has been updated with statements from shipbuilder HII, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, HASC chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and HASC ranking member Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas).
Pentagon leaders want to reroute $1.5 billion in money from two major shipbuilding programs and aircraft for the Navy and Marine Corps to support construction of $3.8 billion in new physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a copy of a Fiscal Year 2020 reprogramming request obtained by USNI News. Read More
The following is the Feb. 5, 2020 Government Accountability Office testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security on the Coast Guard icebreaker programs. Read More
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R=Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), center, speaks with Rear Adm. Michael E. Boyle, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea (CNFK) in 2018. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee’s top Republican has “heartburn” over the proposed shipbuilding budget for Fiscal Year 2021 but is also committed to fully funding the modernization of the nuclear triad and is acutely aware of a congressionally imposed topline for defense spending next year. Read More
Tripoli (LHA-7) is launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. on March 1, 2017. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include information from a Feb. 10 budget briefing with Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget.
The proposed Navy shipbuilding plan that cuts a Virginia-class submarine, a frigate and an oiler that were previously planned for FY 2021 received immediate bipartisan pushback from the House and the Senate. Read More
