USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 14, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy has taken several cracks over the years at trying to define a new future aircraft carrier, one that might be less expensive or less vulnerable. Read More
Virginia-class submarine Washington (SSN-787) under construction in 2016 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Va. HII Photo
Money to buy a second Virginia-class submarine is number one on the Navy’s $5.4 billion Fiscal Year 2021 Unfunded Priorities List, USNI News has learned. Read More
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R=Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), center, speaks with Rear Adm. Michael E. Boyle, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea (CNFK) in 2018. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee’s top Republican has “heartburn” over the proposed shipbuilding budget for Fiscal Year 2021 but is also committed to fully funding the modernization of the nuclear triad and is acutely aware of a congressionally imposed topline for defense spending next year. 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.
Virginia-class submarine Washington (SSN-787) under construction in 2016 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Va. HII Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy’s ability to keep on track its top acquisition program, the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, rests heavily on its ability to keep the Virginia-class attack boat program on track – something the two submarine builders have struggled with in recent years amid challenges with their workforce and supplier base as the Virginia program increased to a two-a-year production cadence. Read More
USS Detroit (LCS-7) receives regularly scheduled maintenance and upkeep during a scheduled dry-dock maintenance availability phase at BAE Systems shipyard in Jacksonville, Fla., March 29, 2019. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The Navy is already making hard decisions – curtailing training for air wings not imminently deploying, canceling planned ship maintenance availabilities – as the specter of a full-year continuing resolution looms.
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An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740) off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s Strategic Systems Program this fiscal year will begin looking at what new technologies it will need to develop to sustain and modernize its nuclear weapons so they can operate on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines through the 2080s. Read More
Artist’s rendering of the Columbia-class SSBN submarine. US Navy Image
This post has been updated to include additional information on the Columbia program cost.
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy will spend the next year negotiating a contract for the first two hulls in the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program, in a strategy that would get the first two boats on contract and under construction quickly and then insert cost-saving lessons learned into later ships. 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
Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo
GROTON, Conn. – General Dynamics Electric Boat broke ground on a Columbia-class submarine assembly facility at its Groton yard on Friday, kicking off one of the final facilities improvement projects the company needs ahead of a massive increase in submarine construction work in the coming decades. Read More
