Aircraft CF-02, an F-35 Lightning II Carrier Variant attached to the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 completes a flyover of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). US Navy Photo
The driving concept behind the Pentagon’s Third Offset Strategy comes down to : If we’re not changing, we’re losing to “pacing competitors” like Russia and China in conventional warfare. Read More
Janine Davidson, when she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Policy, U.S. Department of State. The American Assembly Photo
Janine Davidson was sworn in as Under Secretary of the Navy last week, making her the first person to hold that job since early 2013. Read More
An artist’s conception of Boeing’s UCLASS offering taken as part of the company’s display at the U.S. Navy League 2015 Sea Air Space Exposition. US Naval Institute Photo
This post has been updated to include additional comments from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Naval Air Systems Command is set to release a new draft request for proposal for its unmanned aerial refueling tanker to industry later this year, USNI News has learned. Read More
Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers at a Sept. 29, 2015 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on cyber warfare. CSPAN Image
The United States’ adversaries see cyber warfare as a potential American vulnerability in a military engagement, the Pentagon’s number two civilian told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday. Read More
An undated artist’s rendering of the Ohio Replacement. Naval Sea Systems Command Image
A House Armed Services Committee member said lawmakers are already working to properly fund the upcoming Ohio Replacement Program (ORP) ballistic missile submarine but have not received sufficient feedback from the Pentagon. Read More
Northrop Grumman X-47B Salty Dog 502 during carrier tests in 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee — concerned with the Navy’s direction for its planned unmanned carrier aircraft program — wants the Pentagon to oversee development of two new carrier capable prototype unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and restart testing of the service’s two Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) in a combined $725 million effort, according to a summary of the SASC’s markup of the Fiscal Year 2016 defense authorization bill released Thursday evening. Read More
The following is the April 14, 2015 memo announcing new policy on disinterring and identifying missing service members. Read More
An E/A-18G Growler from the Shadowhawks of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) on Nov. 3, 2014. US Navy photo.
The Pentagon’s new Electronic Warfare (EW) Executive Committee was created this week to refocus the services on matters of EW strategy and operational capability, according to the memo signed Tuesday establishing the committee. Read More
The following is a Department of Defense March 17, 2015 memo outlining the establishment of the Pentagon’s new Electronic Warfare Executive Committee. Read More
Under the auspices of the Defense Innovation Initiative, announced by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel before he left office, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work has sounded a call to revive the practice of wargaming in the Department of Defense. In a memo issued Feb. 9, Work announced plans to “reinvigorate, institutionalize, and systematize wargaming across the Department.”
This memo is a vital first step, and should instigate a Navy wide re-examination of when, why, and how we conduct these evolutions across the force. Lessons learned a century ago demonstrate that the Navy should take the memo’s intent on board, but must go even further than Mr. Work’s suggestions in order to maximize the warfighting ability and innovative spirit of the fleet. Read More
