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The Navy and Marine Corps are eyeing a 200- to 400-foot Light Amphibious Warship that would carry about 75 Marines, store as much as 8,000 square feet of kit and cost not much more than $100 million apiece, a naval official. Read More
BAE Systems has received $170.7 million in contracts from the U.S. Navy to perform simultaneous maintenance and repair on two Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyers in its San Diego shipyard. Under the awarded contracts, the shipyard will tandem dry-dock the USS Stethem (DDG 63) and USS Decatur (DDG 73) in October. The synchronized two-ship docking will be a first for the company’s newest dry-dock in San Diego. The contracts include options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $185 million. BAE Systems photo
The chief of naval operations in January threw down an aggressive goal for surface ship maintenance: zero days lost to maintenance delays by the end of Fiscal Year 2021. Read More
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group transits in formation with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group while conducting dual carrier and airwing operations in the Philippine Sea on June 23, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to include additional information from Secretary Esper’s rollout of Battle Force 2045.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced a new future fleet plan for the Navy that would grow the attack submarine force, supplement nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with light carriers to achieve greater day-to-day presence, and invest heavily in small and unmanned ships for distributed operations. Read More
USS Sterett (DDG-104) steams through the night in the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 17, 2020. US Navy Photo
The first of three inputs to the Pentagon’s Future Naval Force Study was released this week, the Hudson Institute is calling for a future U.S. Navy fleet of 581 battle force ships through the addition of 80 corvettes, 99 unmanned surface vessels, 40 unmanned submarines and 27 new small amphibious ships Read More
The Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), arrives at Port Canaveral, Fla., on Sept. 23, 2020. The Navy will commission DDG 119, the first ship in naval history to be named Delbert D. Black, Sept. 26, 2020 in Port Canaveral. US Navy photo.
The Navy commissioned USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) on Saturday. Read More
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
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
Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams (ESB-4) leaving San Diego, Calif. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to correct an incorrect photo caption indicating USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams (ESB-4) was arriving in Naples, Italy. It was leaving San Diego.
Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) pulled into Naples, Italy today for a stop on its first deployment. 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
Newport News Shipbuilding has seen a disproportionate amount of its COVID-19-related delays and inefficiencies hit its Virginia-class attack submarine production line, as the yard has prioritized its available workforce on supporting maintenance for in-service submarines and aircraft carriers, the company’s CEO told investors today. Read More
