Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan meets with the Qatar Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., March 12, 2019. DoD Photo
The acting secretary of defense defended the Pentagon’s decision to retire a Nimitz-class carrier 25 years early during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Read More
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) conducts a strait transit. Truman is currently deployed as part of an ongoing rotation of U.S. forces supporting maritime security operations in international waters around the globe on April 27, 2018. US Navy Photo
A Pentagon budget plan to sideline an aircraft carrier, rather than refuel it, and redirect money for other defense priorities would save just $16.9 million in Fiscal Year 2020, USNI News has learned. Read More
F/A-18F Pilot LCDR Jamie R. Struck the makes first carrier arrested landing using AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) off the Virginia coast. US Navy Photo
A previous version of this post misstated the Navy’s reliability requirement for the Advanced Arresting Gear. The requirement is 16,500 recoveries before an operational failure.
ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS GERALD R. FORD – The crew of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) are slowly expanding the aircraft they can launch and recover from the next-generation aircraft carrier, Ford’s air boss told USNI News last week. Read More
The final piece of the underwater hull of the future aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is lowered into place at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in September. Photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
THE PENTAGON – The Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding a contract for two aircraft carriers, the first of its kind since the 1980s. Read More
Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer
This post has been updated to include additional statements from the Navy and from Sen. Jim Inhofe.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy Secretary has committed that the service and its industry partners will have working weapons elevators on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) by the end of the summer – and the secretary’s job is now on the line over that issue. Read More
A 2013 artist’s concept of the future carrier Enterprise (CVN-80). DoD Image
This post has been updated to include a statement from Huntington Ingalls Industries.
The clock is now counting down for the Navy to award Newport News Shipbuilding a two-aircraft carrier contract, after the Pentagon formally notified Congress on Dec. 31 that it wanted to pursue the first dual-carrier contract since the late 1980s. Read More
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of USNI News year-end series. Read More
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) sits atop blocks in Dry Dock #1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Feb. 21, 2001. DoD photo.
As the Navy grapples with current backlogs of work at public maintenance yards and finalizes its longer-term plans for fleet maintenance, some lawmakers are pushing the Navy to send more attack submarine maintenance work to private shipbuilders. Read More
F/A-18F Pilot LCDR Jamie R. Struck the makes first carrier arrested landing using AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) off the Virginia coast. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy’s acquisition chief said the weapons elevators on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will be built and installed by the time the ship comes out of its ongoing post-shakedown availability, but he may launch an independent review team to look at the long-term sustainability and reliability of the elevators. Read More
Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Helena (SSN-725) arrives at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a high-priority docking continuous maintenance availability on Aug. 20, 2015. US Navy Photo
Delays in maintenance have resulted in at least 1,891 lost operational days for the U.S. attack submarine fleet and cost the Navy about $1.5 billion to support boats that can’t go to sea, according to a Monday report from the Government Accountability Office. Read More
