Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Oct. 1, 2014. DoD Photo
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel termed Iraq’s prime minister’s comments that the United States was moving too slowly in sending weapons and materiel and providing training to his forces as being both wrong and not helpful. Read More
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas)
The new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday stressed the need for Congress and the administration to work together to put an end to the automatic across-the-board budget cuts the federal government is facing in the coming fiscal year and to build an “efficient, effective and effective” military. Read More
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard address sailors attached to Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 during an all-hands call at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. US Navy Photo
NORFOLK, VA. — The sequestration restrictions on military funding are not likely to go away anytime soon and could result in a U.S. naval force of 250 ships, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard said on Tuesday. Read More
If the Pentagon does not receive financial help from Congress relatively quickly, the department will be compelled to cut modernization spending even further and eliminate infrastructure, the Defense Department’s number two civilian said on Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Read More
AV-8B Harriers sit on the flight deck at night aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) on Oct. 3, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Marine Corps will phase out the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump jet by 2025 — about five years earlier than planned — and will instead extend the life of its fleet of aging Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, according to the service’s recently released 2015 aviation plan. Read More
A Standard Missile – 3 (SM-3) Block 1B interceptor is launched from the USS LAKE ERIE (CG-70) in 2013. Missile Defense Agency Photo
Legislators are planning to hold hearings based on concerns over the Navy’s scheme to modernize its cruiser and destroyer fleet, according to a statement from the chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee provided to USNI News. Read More
USS Halsey (DDG-97), USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) and USS Gridley (DDG-101) underway on May, 23 2014. US Navy Photo
Budget pressure and an insatiable demand for ships capable of bulls eyeing ballistic missiles drove the Navy to alter its plan to upgrade Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51), officials with the Navy surface warfare policy division (OPNAV N96) told USNI News during a Thursday briefing at the Pentagon.
USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) returns to her homeport of Mayport, Fla., following the completion of a six-month deployment in 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy has quietly reduced the scope of upgrades to its guided missile destroyers in a move that could make up to a quarter of the fleet a target of early decommissioning due to obsolescence, USNI News has learned.
USS Freedom (LCS 1), transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Freedom’s maiden proof-of-concept deployment on Dec. 13, 2013. US Navy Photo
Congress is asking for additional oversight of the Littoral Combat Ship program as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 defense authorization bill, ahead of a planned Fiscal Year 2015 block buy for 20 more of the ships. Read More
