Four F-35B Lightning II aircraft perform a flyover above the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on Nov. 20, 2016. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act piles on more ships and aircraft over the Pentagon’s request in a plan that spends more than $20 billion above the Trump administration’s request, according to an executive summary of the legislation that the SASC issued on Wednesday night. Read More
The aft mast lands on the future amphibious transport dock Portland (LPD-27) in August 2015. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
The House Armed Services Committee released its Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act language this evening, in a bill that spends billions more than the Navy had asked for on five additional ships and more than two dozen additional aircraft. Read More
Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets from Strike Fighter Squadron 31 fly a combat patrol over Afghanistan on Dec. 15, 2008. US Air Force Photo
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee is considering a bill today that would provide $584.2 billion in defense base budget spending and would give the Navy additional ships and aircraft beyond its request. Read More
House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) traveled to Europe in mid-April with several members of Congress to visit troops stationed overseas and to meet with our allies in the region. Among other stops, he met with Maj. Gen. Niel Nelson, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, right. Photo courtesy Thornberry’s official Facebook page.
The House’s 2018 defense bill is likely to go far beyond the Pentagon’s spending request, with House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) telling reporters he wants to see a $640-billion top line for the base budget that would largely include items in the services’ unfunded priorities lists. Read More
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis shakes hands with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, before hearing on the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington D.C., June 13, 2017. DoD Photo
Spearheaded by Chairman Sen. John McCain, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee pressed the Pentagon’s top leadership why it had yet to produce a new national security strategy to inform the budget six months into the Trump administration. Read More
Secretary of Defense James Mattis
Seapower leaders on the House Armed Services Committee pressed Pentagon leaders Monday night to explain why the president’s 2018 budget request does not put the Navy on a path to have a fleet of 355 ships. Read More
A unmanned aerial vehicle launches from a Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) vehicle after exiting an Autonomous AAV during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., on April 25.US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps is making a new push for experimentation and rapid acquisition funding in its 2018 budget request, with the recently completed Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) under the Ship to Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) effort serving as an example of how the Marines would hope to spend this flexible funding line. Read More
The following is the Marine Corps’ Fiscal Year 2018 Unfunded Priorities List, which the service sent to Congress following the release of the Pentagon’s formal FY 2018 budget request. Read More
U.S. Marine Corps pilots maneuver a CH-53K King Stallion as it delivers a 12,000-pound external load after completing an 110 nautical mile mission during the two-week initial operational test (OT-B1) conducted at Sikorsky. Sikorsky Photo
New fighters, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles topped the $3.18 billion unfunded wish list of the Marine Corps to Congress, according to a copy of the document obtained by USNI News on Monday. Read More
Four F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighters fly in formation over Naval Air Station Lemoore in January 2016. US Navy photo.
The Navy has asked lawmakers for additional aircraft, warfighting capability improvements and facilities upgrades if more money were to become available to the service, with the release of its Fiscal Year 2018 Unfunded Priorities List. Read More
