A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time on March 19, 2020. U.S. Navy Photo
The template for a new generation of Army and Navy weapons was put to the test in a late Thursday missile launch in Hawaii. Read More
Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image
The Navy intends to deploy its conventional prompt strike hypersonic weapon on Virginia-class attack submarines, after previous discussions of putting the weapon on the larger Ohio-class guided-missile submarine (SSGN), according to budget request documents. Read More
Virginia-class attack submarine North Dakota (SSN-784) is rolled out of an indoor shipyard facility at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. US Navy Photo
As General Dynamics starts building two submarine classes simultaneously this year, the defense contractor is focused on showing shareholders and lawmakers that it can ramp up production while keeping costs in check.
This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.
2019 started with a surprise in the Navy budget request: the service needed to buy and test unmanned surface vehicles immediately to reach its ultimate goals for the surface force, and it was willing to sacrifice almost anything – including sidelining an aircraft carrier – to free up the funds to do so. Read More
USS Arizona underway.
The Navy will name the first two Block V Virginia-class attack submarines in honor of the crews of a pair of battleships forever enshrined in the memory of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Sailors aboard to Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Delaware (SSN-791) on Nov. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy signed its largest shipbuilding contract ever, awarding a $22.2-billion contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding for nine Virginia-class Block V attack submarines. Read More
USS Hawaii (SSN-776) off of Oahu, Hawaii during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, July 9, 2018 . US Navy photo.
ARLINGTON, Va. – With the Columbia ballistic missile submarine program set to take up a large portion of Navy shipbuilding funds in the next two decades and flat budgets expected in the near-term, the Navy’s undersea warfare community has clearly prioritized where any available funds should go to support the National Defense Strategy. Read More
Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image
Negotiations to build the Block V Virginia-class submarines will likely result in a contract for fewer subs than what Congress authorized, than the Navy wants and than industry can build, a shipbuilding executive told Wall Street analysts on Thursday. Read More
Sailors aboard to Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Delaware (SSN-791) on Nov. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy and submarine builders General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding are executing a recovery plan to get Block IV Virginia-class submarine production back on track, after the last five submarines in Block III delivered late. Read More
Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image
The Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat appear to have reached an agreement to build nine Block V Virginia-class submarines with an option for a tenth, but the pending deal is getting tepid applause from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
