Tag Archives: Randy Forbes

Navy Wants to Grow Fleet to 355 Ships; 47 Hull Increase Adds Destroyers, Attack Subs

Navy Wants to Grow Fleet to 355 Ships; 47 Hull Increase Adds Destroyers, Attack Subs

USS Dewey (DDG-105), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108), USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS OÕKane (DDG-77) and USS Sterett (DDG-104) participate in a show of force transit training exercise on Nov. 4, 2016. US Navy Photo

USS Dewey (DDG-105), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108), USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS OÕKane (DDG-77) and USS Sterett (DDG-104) participate in a show of force transit training exercise on Nov. 4, 2016. US Navy Photo

The Navy released a new fleet plan that calls for 355 ships, outlining a massive increase in the size of its high-end large surface combatant and attack submarine fleets but a modest increase in its planned amphibious ship fleet, according to a Dec. 14 summary of the assessment. Read More

SECNAV Mabus Memo: Navy Budget Submission Built with Trump's Pentagon in Mind

SECNAV Mabus Memo: Navy Budget Submission Built with Trump’s Pentagon in Mind

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks Dec. 6, 2016 at an all-hands call at Walter Reed Bethesda (WRB). US Navy Photo

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks Dec. 6, 2016 at an all-hands call at Walter Reed Bethesda (WRB). US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Outgoing Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has crafted the Fiscal 2018 Department of the Navy budget submission in line with the stated goals of the new Trump administration rather than the priorities of the current Department of Defense, according to a memo Mabus sent to Pentagon leaders on Thursday. Read More

Navy Lays Bare F/A-18 Readiness Gaps, Could Take Year to Surge Air Wing

Navy Lays Bare F/A-18 Readiness Gaps, Could Take Year to Surge Air Wing

An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to the Diamondbacks of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, practices a touch-and-go landing on May 11, 2016. US Navy Photo

An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the Diamondbacks of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, practices a touch-and-go landing on May 11, 2016. US Navy Photo

Three out of four F/A-18s are not ready to go to war and it could take up to a year for the Navy to pull together enough reserve fighters to field a surge force air wing, service officials told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Read More

Unmanned CBARS Tanker Air Segment Draft RFP Expected Later This Year

Unmanned CBARS Tanker Air Segment Draft RFP Expected Later This Year

An artist’s conception of Boeing’s UCLASS offering taken as part of the company’s display at the U.S. Navy League 2015 Sea Air Space Exposition. US Naval Institute Photo

An artist’s conception of Boeing’s UCLASS offering taken as part of the company’s display at the U.S. Navy League 2015 Sea Air Space Exposition. US Naval Institute Photo

This post has been updated to include additional comments from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Naval Air Systems Command is set to release a new draft request for proposal for its unmanned aerial refueling tanker to industry later this year, USNI News has learned. Read More

Former COMSUBFOR Connor: Navy Needs to Accelerate Submarine Innovation

Former COMSUBFOR Connor: Navy Needs to Accelerate Submarine Innovation

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN-705) transits into formation during a photo exercise as a part of Exercise Malabar 2015 on Oct. 16, 2015. US Navy Photo

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN-705) transits into formation during a photo exercise as a part of Exercise Malabar 2015 on Oct. 16, 2015. US Navy Photo

While the Navy “had been dominant—and benefited immensely” from its strength in undersea capability, the Russians and Chinese are posing new challenges to its retaining that edge, the chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee said Tuesday in opening a series of hearings on “game-changing” concepts and capabilities. Read More

SASC Markup Adds $725 Million for 2 New Carrier UAV Prototypes, More X-47B Testing

SASC Markup Adds $725 Million for 2 New Carrier UAV Prototypes, More X-47B Testing

Northrop Grumman X-47B Salty Dog 502 during carrier tests in 2014. US Naval Institute Photo

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