Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image
GROTON, Conn. – The Navy is close to inking a multi-billion-dollar deal to build the Block V Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, but doing so requires the service, shipyards and suppliers to balance their sometimes-competing program priorities, the service’s top acquisition official said Tuesday
The final piece of the new main mast of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is installed at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding, March 15, 2019. The 34-foot upper mast section raises the ship’s distinctive profile 123 feet above the flight deck. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
Aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) is more than halfway through its refueling and complex overhaul and is set to leave the dry dock at Newport News Shipbuilding next month to begin the next phase of a four-year overhaul. 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
This post has been updated to include additional information from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
CAPITOL HILL – Vice Adm. Michael Gilday promised the Senate Armed Services Committee that, if he were confirmed to serve as the next chief of naval operations, he would be transparent about ongoing challenges with the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and ensure that other new programs like the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine avoid the same pitfalls. Read More
The following is the June 24, 2019 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
William Mahan, a Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility worker from Puyallup, Washington, grinds a bulkhead on Aug. 04, 2017. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The shipbuilding and repair industry is facing increasing challenges from an aging workforce, lack of stability in the contract workload and a problem convincing young Americans that shipyard work is essential and well-paying, industry officials said.
Sailors go over safety procedures for the Upper Stage 1 advanced weapons aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). US Navy Photo
The Navy is building a ground-based test site for the weapons elevators currently going through a difficult installation and certification process on carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), though it won’t be ready in time to allay the problems on Ford. Read More
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is maneuvered by tugboats in the James River during a turn ship evolution on March 17, 2019 Gerald R. Ford is currently undergoing its post-shakedown availability at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding. US Navy photo.
When USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) leaves Newport News Shipbuilding in mid-October, only some of its Advanced Weapons Elevators will be usable as the Navy continues to struggle in making the ship deployable, Navy acquisition chief James Geurts said Wednesday.
USS Washington (SSN-787). HII Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Virginia-class attack submarine program office is in the early stages of determining what its Block VI design might look like and what payloads it would need to accommodate, the program manager said last week. Read More
Artist’s rendering of the Columbia-class SSBN submarine. US Navy Image
This post has been updated to correctly state that the first patrol will begin in October 2030 and that design disclosures are on track to be 83 percent complete at the start of construction.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy will have the most complete design ever and will be well into construction when the “official start” of construction on the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine occurs on Oct. 1, 2020, the service’s program manager said. Read More
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 12, 2018. US Navy photo.
CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers told industry representatives today that, if it wasn’t already clear from their hearings with Pentagon and Navy leadership this week, they had no intention of letting the Defense Department shed an aircraft carrier instead of refuel it. Read More
