Sailors man the phone and distance line aboard the Arleigh Burke-Class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG-57) on Nov. 7, 2014. US Navy Photo
This is the final version of this post.
PENTAGON — The Department of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2017 lower-than-expected budget submission follows closely with an overall Department of Defense drive to build higher end warfighting capabilities — but at a cost, according to budget documents released on Tuesday. Read More
X-47B taking on fuel from a tanker on April 22, 2015. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) effort is being retooled as primarily a carrier-based unmanned aerial refueling platform — one of several Pentagon directed naval aviation mandates in the service’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget submission. Read More
Mitsubishi F-15J. Photo by Toshi Aoki via Wikipedia
The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has approved a record $42.1 billion 2016 defense budget largely seen as a response to China’s rapidly expanding military, particularly the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Read More
A still from a Northrop Grumman advertisement. Northrop Grumman Image
PENTAGON — The U.S. Air Force has selected Northrop Grumman to build the service’s planned Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) beating a combined Boeing and Lockheed Martin team, officials said in a long awaited announcement. Read More
The following is the Aug. 3, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, History of the Navy UCLASS Program Requirements: In Brief. Read More
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) guided-missile defense destroyer JDS Atago (DDG-177) maneuvers with other JMDSF and U.S. Navy ships belonging to the USS George Washington carrier strike group in 2011. US Navy Photo
Changes in Japan’s defense posture, pending aircraft buys from the U.S. and planned combat system modification to Japanese ships will give the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) the practical and political ability to fight as a part of the U.S. Navy’s new networked carrier strike group concept — which would expand the lethal power and range of both forces, USNI News has learned. Read More
Northrop Grumman-built Triton unmanned aircraft system completed its first flight May 22, 2013, from the company’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. Northrop Grumman Photo
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced it will begin negotiations on a second low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract for the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle. Read More
E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft conduct a test flight in 2009. US Navy Photo
Congress was notified of a potential sale of four Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes and supporting equipment to Japan, State Department officials told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
X-47B taking on fuel from a tanker on April 22, 2015. US Navy Photo
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said he would like to see the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program move forward soon, and he’d like to continue testing the X-47B Unmanned Carrier Air Vehicle demonstrator (UCAS-D) program in the mean time without giving an advantage to builder Northrop Grumman. Read More
Northrop Grumman X-47B Salty Dog 502 during carrier tests in 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee — concerned with the Navy’s direction for its planned unmanned carrier aircraft program — wants the Pentagon to oversee development of two new carrier capable prototype unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and restart testing of the service’s two Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) in a combined $725 million effort, according to a summary of the SASC’s markup of the Fiscal Year 2016 defense authorization bill released Thursday evening. Read More
