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
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify to the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the fiscal year 2022 budget for the Defense Department, June 17, 2021. DoD Photo
China wants the ability to invade and hold Taiwan within the next six years but might not intend to do so in the near term, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Congress 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
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) transits alongside the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on Jan. 19, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s modest shipbuilding request as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget shows the Pentagon has “walked away from the 500-ship Navy,” a senior defense analyst said Tuesday. Read More
Submarine construction continues apace in the latest US Navy budget request, which asks for two more Virginia-class submarines and another installment for the missile sub Columbia. Here, the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Montana (SSN-794) is seen just after launch in March 2021 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. HII Photo
This post has been updated with additional details from the Department of the Navy’s FY 2022 budget presentation.
The long-delayed Navy fiscal 2022 budget request submitted to Congress May 28 reflects modest increases in several areas but overall shows no significant changes over the previous year, either in weapons procurement or readiness accounts. Read More
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin delivers remarks during the change of command ceremony for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on April 30, 2021. DoD Photo
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command welcomed a new commander as Adm. Phil Davidson handed the leadership to Adm. John Aquilino in a Hawaii ceremony while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin provided his first public comments on how the U.S. military will operate in the region. Read More
This post has been updated to include a statement from Republican senators about the Biden administration’s request and comments from Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
The Biden administration is requesting a $715 billion budget for the Pentagon, keeping defense spending largely flat when adjusting for inflation, the White House announced today.
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The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03). MDA photo
Building an Aegis Ashore facility on Guam would relieve three guided-missile destroyers from missile defense work and make them available for Navy tasking, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday. Read More
Formidable-class frigate RSS Stalwart, a frigate of Singaporean navy, arrives at Dagang port in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on April 19, 2019. Frigate RSS Stalwart arrived at Dagang port in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on Friday morning to attend the multinational navy event to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. Xinhua Photo
The United States is “in catch-up mode” to restore its deterrent and fighting capability that increases the size of the Navy’s fleet to compete with China in the Indo-Pacific, a former White House national security adviser told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. Read More
