The following is the Sept. 15, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Category Archives: Submarine Forces
Esper: Unmanned Vessels Will Allow the Navy to Reach 355-Ship Fleet
Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks to sailors aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Sept. 17, 2020, during a visit to California. USNI News photo.
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CARL VINSON, OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA – Defense Secretary Mark Esper told sailors today that heavy investment in unmanned systems would be key to the Navy reaching 355 or more ships and having the lethality and survivability needed if a conflict were to break out with China. Read More
Joint Force Command Norfolk Reaches Initial Operational Capability
Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) man the rails as the ship departs Haakonsvern, Norway, on Feb. 4, 2019. US Navy photo.
NATO’s Joint Force Command Norfolk has achieved initial operational capability, with plans to be fully operational by the end of next year, the head of the command said on Thursday. Read More
Senators Clash Over $8B Nuclear Security Admin Funding Holdover
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
Esper Opens Door to Boosting Navy’s Shipbuilding Budget to Fund New Force Structure
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
Navy Sharpening Anti-Submarine Warfare Skills in Black Widow Exercise
An MH-60R Seahawk Helicopter, attached to Helicopter Marine Strike Squadron (HSM) 46, prepares to lower a dipping sonar transducer during anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training with the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) on Sept. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
Now that the Navy’s recently reactivated U.S. 2nd Fleet is fully operational, the service is using the command structure that organization allows to sharpen its anti-submarine warfare skillset this week in Exercise Black Widow 2020 in the North Atlantic. Read More
Attack Sub Montana Christened at Newport News, As Yard Tries Keeping to Schedule Despite COVID
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
Report to Congress on Columbia-class Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Program
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
Common Standards, Software Key to Navy’s Future Unmanned Systems
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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Analyst: China Exceeded Expectations in Speed of Naval Growth
Chinese sailors. Xinhua Photo
China surpassed every American security planners’ expectations in its successful building and deploying of the world’s largest maritime fleet in just 20 years, a leading naval strategist said Wednesday. The question now is what Beijing’s military and paramilitary forces will look like in the future. Read More
