The Navy may embrace some lessons learned from the Littoral Combat Ship program as it shifts towards a new mentality of rapidly fielding capabilities, as outlined in a new Navy white paper, the chief of naval operations said. Read More

The Navy may embrace some lessons learned from the Littoral Combat Ship program as it shifts towards a new mentality of rapidly fielding capabilities, as outlined in a new Navy white paper, the chief of naval operations said. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
House and Senate appropriators reached an agreement to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year that includes a $593-billion defense spending package to allow the Navy and Marine Corps to continue with planned ship and aircraft procurement and readiness increases. Read More
The following is the March 14, 2017 Congressional Research Service report, Navy LX(R) Amphibious Ship Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Newport News Shipbuilding placed a 900-ton superlift into dry dock, continuing construction of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). Nearly 90 lifts have been placed in the dock and joined together since the ship’s keel was laid in August 2015. Newport News Shipbuilding photo.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Navy and many lawmakers want a massive increase in Navy spending but haven’t yet put forward a plan to start ramping up spending – and one shipbuilding executive said he wouldn’t feel comfortable investing in a larger workforce until certain signs of Navy commitment appear in the budget. Read More
Aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) sits pier side in the early morning light at Newport News Shipbuilding in 2014. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers have asked the Congressional Budget Office for data on what it would take to reach a 355-ship Navy over various periods of time, the chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee said today. Read More
Ingalls Shipbuilding lands the 700-ton deckhouse on the amphibious assault ship Tripoli (LHA 7) on July 9, 2016. Ingalls Shipbuilding photo.
THE PENTAGON – The Navy and industry could act quickly to ramp up amphibious warship production if the Congress and new administration support the Navy’s new call for 38 amphibs, the director of expeditionary warfare (OPNAV N95) told USNI News. Read More
An artist’s concept of the 12th San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warship Fort Lauderdale. HII Image
Ingalls Shipbuilding was awarded a $1.46 billion contract modification for the construction of the last San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warship on Monday, according to a Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) under construction in 2013. Newport News Shipbuilding photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Building the 350-ship Navy fleet that President-elect Donald Trump has advocated would be a “herculean task,” Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said Wednesday, though industry could do it if the buildup were done in a stable and strategic way. Read More
MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft return after a long-range raid from Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa as part of Blue Chromite 2017, Nov. 4, 2016. The Marines honed their ability to project forces from afar by executing a long-range raid over 1,000 miles via MV-22B Osprey to include an aerial refueling by KC-130J Super Hercules. Blue Chromite is a U.S.-only exercise which strengthens the Navy-Marine Corps expeditionary, amphibious rapid-response capabilities based in Okinawa and the greater Indo-Asia-Pacific region. US Marine Corps photo.
The Marine Corps in recent years has grappled with how to remain a “fight-tonight” force without enough ships to take Marines where they need to go – but a Navy effort to redesign its future fleet and an incoming administration dedicated to growing the Navy may bode well for solving this long-standing problem.
The following is the Aug. 18, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More