Streamers mix with falling snow during the christening of guided-missile destroyer Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) at the Bath Iron Works shipyard on April 1, 2017 in Bath, Maine. US Navy Photo
Management of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works told a local on-strike machinists union they are unwilling to budge on the latest contract that would allow temporary workers to help with the backlog of work to keep up with Navy shipbuilding schedules, according to letters sent to the union on Wednesday. Read More
Undated Photo of worker at General Dynamic-Bath Iron Works shipyard. BIW Photo
The unionized workforce at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works began its strike today, further delaying work on two destroyer programs when many of the issues the yard and the local union are fighting over are actually related to shipbuilding delays and trying to dig out of a backlog of work. Read More
Following the multi-day process that includes
moving the ship from the land level facility to the dry dock which is then
slowly flooded until the ship is afloat, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson
(DDG 1002) was launched at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard on Dec. 9, 2018. US Navy photo courtesy Bath Iron Works
The General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard and the local chapter of the Machinists Union are days from their current labor agreement expiring and still haven’t found common ground after union representatives rejected the yard’s “last, best and final offer” on employee pay and benefits. Read More
USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) departs Huntington Ingalls Industries – Ingalls Shipbuilding’s Pascagoula shipyard to conduct comprehensive at-sea testing on Feb. 3, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act keeps shipbuilding in line with the Navy’s budget request from February but adds additional oversight to the service’s plans for unmanned ships and unmanned aviation, committee staffers told reporters on Thursday. Read More
John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) leaving dry dock in 2019. US Navy Photo
A lack of risk awareness in recent years has prevented Navy acquisition officials from anticipating technology hiccups, delays and potential cost-overruns, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) completed acceptance trials last week in the Gulf of Mexico, the Navy announced.
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
Guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) transits the Atlantic Ocean. Aug. 30, 2018 US Navy Photo
The search for future budget savings to apply to shipbuilding has the Navy considering scrapping a plan to extend the life of the fleet’s oldest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the service’s top systems buyer told lawmakers Thursday.
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
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
