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USS Stockdale (DDG-106) transits the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy’s next surface force may rely more on highly capable frigates and therefore need fewer large combatants – a notion that is changing how the Navy looks at its requirement for a future large surface combatant, the director of surface warfare told USNI News. Read More
Sailors man the rails aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) as the ship is underway off the coast of Valparaiso, Chile during a parade of ships, Dec. 2, 2018. Wayne E. Meyer is part of Littoral Combat Group One, which is deployed in support of the Enduring Promise Initiative to reaffirm U.S. Southern Command’s long standing commitment to the nations of the Western Hemisphere. US Navy photo.
The Navy deployed a new ship pairing – a destroyer (DDG-51) and an amphibious transport dock (LPD-17) – to test out a new concept that could supplement amphibious squadrons and surface action groups as a formation in future operations. Read More
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of USNI News year-end series. Read More
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) during construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. BIW photo.
The Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works a second destroyer for Fiscal Year 2019, in the first contract option that accelerates DDG buys from the Navy’s previous two-a-year rate. Read More
A target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii during Flight Test Standard Missile-45. USS John Finn (DDG-113) detected and tracked the target missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar using the Aegis Baseline 9.C2 weapon system. US Navy Photo
Rebuilding a U.S. integrated air and missile defense capability, slashed to the bone by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, will not be easy, three former directors of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization (JIAMDO) said on Monday. Read More
The Ingalls-built destroyer Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) launched at first light Saturday morning, Nov. 12, 2016. Ingalls Shipbuilding photo.
The Navy awarded six of its next Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to Ingalls Shipbuilding and four to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, in a combined $9-billion purchase right at the end of the fiscal year. Read More
High-speed camera image of the Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, firing a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot in 2010. ONR Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy’s next large surface combatant will have all the space, weight and power margins the sea service could need now and into the future to accommodate new weapons in development – but the director of surface warfare said the Navy would not accelerate weapons development to get them ready in time to outfit the new ships. Read More
Artist’s concept of a DDG-51 Flight III with AMDR. Raytheon Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy will buy the first of its Future Surface Combatants in 2023 – a large warship that will be built to support the Arleigh Burke Flight III combat system and will pull elements from the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) and Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyer designs. Read More
Artist’s concept of a DDG-51 Flight III with AMDR. Raytheon Photo
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s vision of what its next large surface combatant will look like still remains unclear, but that future hull will almost certainly run the DDG-51 Flight III’s combat system, the Program Executive Officer for Ships said today. Read More
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) departs Kiel, Germany, following a scheduled port visit, June 21, 2018. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy hopes to bring the submarine community’s capability improvement process to its surface combatants, allowing for more continuous upgrades to the ships’ warfighting systems as the class builds out. Read More
