USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118) at Bath Iron Works
THE PENTAGON – The Senate Armed Services Committee Fiscal Year 2022 authorization bill adds an additional destroyer, a Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport and five more F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters for the Navy, according to a summary of the markup issued on Thursday by the SASC. Read More
Three littoral combat ships in various stages of construction at Marinette, Wisconsin during July 2015. The Navy is seeking to decommission USS Detroit (LCS-7), at right, and USS Little Rock (LCS-9), in the background. The ships were commissioned only in 2016 and 2017, respectively. USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), commissioned in 2015, is to remain in service. Christopher P. Cavas Photo used with permission
House appropriators are cutting development money for the Navy’s ship-launched nuclear cruise missile, preventing the service from decommissioning three Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships and adding funds for a second destroyer, according to the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee’s draft of the Fiscal Year 2022 defense spending bill issued today. Read More
USS Russell (DDG-59), bottom, approaches the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon (T-AO-202), center, and the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) for a replenishment-at-sea on Feb. 10, 2021. US Navy Photo
The number of ships in the fleet, now at 296 ships, will decrease if the Navy continues to have flat or declining budgets, the service’s top officer told Congress today. Read More
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley answer questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 10, 2021. DoD Photo
Pentagon leaders faced tough questions from lawmakers on the Navy’s decision to shelve the development of a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile during a Thursday budget hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More
The Navy only has funds to develop follow-ons either the (top) F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, (middle) Arleigh Burke DDG-51guided-missile destroyer or (bottom) the Virginia-class submarine (SSN-774). Navy Images
This post has been updated with additional details from the June 4, 2021 memo.
The Navy only has enough money to develop either a new next-generation fighter, destroyer or submarine and will have to pick one platform to invest in, according to a recent memo obtained by USNI News. 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
Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) leads a formation including the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Pinckney (DDG-91) and USS Kidd (DDG-100), and the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) during U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) on April 21, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy has stood up an office to craft the next major surface combatant after more than ten years of starts and stops. On Friday, the service held a small ceremony to open the Guided-Missile Destroyer (DDG(X)) program office, designated as PMS 460 under Program Executive Office Ships, with a goal to start construction of a new design by Fiscal Year 2028, the service said in a statement provided to USNI News. Read More
USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) transits through the East China Sea on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy is seeking nearly $110 million to help research and develop its next-generation destroyer and submarine programs, according to service budget documents. Read More
An Oshkosh-built Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicle with a Naval Strike Missile attached during a November 2020 test at Point Mugu, Calif. US Navy Photo
The Marines added two different types of anti-ship missiles for $153.8 million to the top of their $2.95 billion Unfunded Priorities List to Congress, USNI News has learned. 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
