Ships assigned to the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (Ike CSG) conduct a replenishment-at-sea with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) on June 2, 2016. US Navy photo.
Two carrier strike groups will operate concurrently in the Mediterranean Sea for about two and a half weeks, marking the first simultaneous carrier operations in the region in several years. Read More
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) on May 20, 2016. US Navy Photo
There has been a lively debate in recent years over whether the appurtenance of American military might—the supercarrier—will be rendered irrelevant, even obsolescent, by the burgeoning anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems of the likes of China and Russia should war ever break out between them and Washington. This state of affairs is not helped by a glaring capability shortfall the U.S. Navy faces currently and in the foreseeable future: the lack of a carrier-based deep-strike aircraft due to the relatively short “legs” of its mainstay Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet attack fighter as well as the upcoming Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Read More
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the Bounty Hunters of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) as the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) transits alongside in April 2012. US Navy photo.
CAPITOL HILL – The commandant of the Marine Corps and the chief of naval operations have been discussing how to design a more effective naval campaign that leverages both the carrier strike group and the amphibious ready group to fight a near-peer competitor, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Two F/A-18 Super Hornets and two Royal Malaysian Air Force Mig 29 Fulcrums fly in formation above the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the South China Sea in May 2015. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to clarify the name and role of the Navy’s warfighting development centers.
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VA. – Two years after the Navy unveiled a new fleet deployment and maintenance model, fleet commanders have some successes to tout: three carrier strike groups are operating under the new model, and a working group is capturing lessons learned and proposing ideas to improve fleet operations. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) and its strike group in 2013. US Navy Photo
Navy leadership hopes to have a surge force of three Carrier Strike Groups (CSG) and three Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) by 2020 to respond to major contingencies, compared to today’s one CSG and one ARG – but those plans depend on Congress fully funding the Navy’s implementation of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (O-FRP), Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. Read More
USS Truxtun (DDG-103) on July 9, 2014. US Navy Photo
The looming hit to the shipbuilding budget from the Navy’s plan to build 12 new nuclear ballistic missile submarines resulted in the cancellation of a fourth flight of Arleigh Burke destroyers (DDG-51) as well as the controversial plan to layup 11 Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers (CG-47), the navy’s chief shipbuilder told a congressional panel in a recent hearing on cruiser and destroyer modification. Read More
A F-35C on June 27, 2012. US Navy Photo
The Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be the eyes and ears of the fleet inside highly contested airspace when it enters the U.S. Navy’s arsenal in large numbers in the 2030s. Read More
