The following is an April 30, 2015 letter from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus asking the Navy to consider additional testing for the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D). Read More
Tag Archives: Randy Forbes
Rep. Forbes: New U.S. Maritime Strategy Revision ‘Light Years Ahead’ of 2007 Original
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.). Naval Institute Photo
The recent revision to the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard’s maritime strategy is ‘light years ahead’ of the 2007 original draft, the chairman of the House Armed Service Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces told USNI News last week. Read More
Navy Looking at Accelerating VPM Design to Allow Earlier Production
Virginia-class attack submarine Minnesota (SSN-783) under construction in 2012. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy is looking into the feasibility of accelerating design and development work on the Virginia Payload Module (VPM) in case the service decides to begin production earlier than the 2019 planned start, Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley said Wednesday at a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing. Read More
New Heritage Foundation Study Ranks U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Strength as ‘Marginal’
Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU) prepare for a live-fire exercise on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on Feb. 10, 2015. US Navy
A newly created “Index of Military Strength” rates the Navy and Marine Corps as “marginal” in being able two fight two major regional conflicts almost simultaneously while having sufficient reserves to carry out other missions. Read More
Interview: HASC’s Forbes on China, Strategy and the Navy’s Year Ahead
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.). Naval Institute Photo
As the chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) has been both a booster and critic of the Navy’s quest to build more ships and its modernization efforts across its aviation, surface and submarine portfolios. Read More
Pentagon Unmanned Review Set to Inform UCLASS Bid
An artist’s concept of the Lockheed Martin’s bid for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS). Lockheed Martin Image
A previous version of this post misstated the chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board. It is Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall, not vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld. Winnefeld chairs the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The review of the Pentagon’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) portfolio that stalled the acquisition of the Navy’s first operational carrier-based UAV has completed its early phase, the Navy’s chief acquisition official said on Wednesday. Read More
Top Stories 2014: Foreign Developments
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts, and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2014. Read More
Compromise Defense Bill Restricts Navy UCLASS Funds
X-47B tail number 501 flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 17, 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
The 2015 compromise defense bill, released on Wednesday, imposes restrictions on funding for the Navy’s planned production carrier-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over concerns the platform would lack sufficient stealth, survivability and weapons payload, according to the bill’s language. Read More
Randy Forbes to CNO Greenert: ‘The Navy Desperately Needs A Strategy’
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.). Naval Institute Photo
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) is “concerned at the deficit of strategic thinking” in the Navy and how long time institutional restrictions inside the Pentagon produce, “flag officers who are focused on managerial concerns such as budgeting and engineering rather than executive concerns such as strategy,” according to a July letter sent to Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert and recently obtained by USNI News. Read More
Document: July Letter from Rep. Randy Forbes to CNO Adm. Jonathan Greenert On ‘Deficit of Strategic Thinking’
The following is a July 28, 2014 letter from Randy Forbes (R-Va.) — chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee — to Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert on the subject of U.S. naval strategy. USNI News obtained the letter exclusively earlier this week. Read More
