Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) transits the South China Sea with Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS-16) on Sept. 7, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s ability to defend the nation’s vital security interests is “marginal,” – with the caveat that its score is trending to “weak” in capability and readiness – while the Marine Corps’ ability is graded as “strong,” according to a think tank’s latest survey of United States military power. Read More
Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding on June 5, 2021. HII Photo
The Navy and the Pentagon are crunching numbers on two separate sets of studies that will map out the size of the service’s future fleet as defense budgets are set to stay static for the foreseeable future, officials familiar with the studies told USNI News. Read More
Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo
The Navy needs to resist “requirements creep” in changing designs to complete its number one strategic priority, the Columbia class ballistic missile submarine program (SSBN-826), Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Monday at a virtual conference hosted by the Southeastern New England Defense Industrial Alliance. Read More
USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118) at Bath Iron Works
The Pentagon submitted an abbreviated long-range shipbuilding report to Congress that does not show construction past the Fiscal Year 2022 budget request, according to the document reviewed by USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Artist’s rendering of the Columbia-class SSBN submarine. US Navy Image
This story has been updated to include a statement from the Navy.
The Navy’s cost estimate for the lead ship in its new ballistic-missile submarine program grew by $637 million over the last year, according to the service’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget submission. Read More
Ingalls Shipbuilding in May 2019. HII Photo
A second destroyer and funding for the Navy’s emerging tactical grid are on top of the Navy’s unfunded wish list to Congress, according to a copy of the report reviewed by USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
Virginia-class submarine USS Vermont (SSN-792) as she returns home to Submarine Base New London on Thursday, on Dec. 24, 2020. US Navy Photo
Some parts on Virginia-class attack boats are wearing out faster than the Navy anticipated 20 years ago, and buying replacement parts is further straining a nuclear submarine industrial base that’s already juggling an expansion of construction of new hulls and maintaining the current fleet.
In this aerial photograph, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) sits at Pier 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding division. The ship is approximately 76 percent complete and is progressing through final outfitting and testing. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
This story has been updated to include a statement from a Pentagon spokesperson.
The Pentagon is performing a “budget relook” of the Trump administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 proposal, with Navy shipbuilding topping the list of items for reassessment, USNI News has learned. Read More
Terrance Wells, from San Diego, ties straps for a containment project on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Oct. 26, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy faces a conundrum in renovating its centuries-old public shipyards. Read More
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.)
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee will maintain their focus on building a larger Navy to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, the panel’s new number-two Republican told USNI News. Read More
