An undated photo of Dongdiao-class auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) Tianwangxing (853). A ship of the class is currently operating off the coast of Oahu monitoring RIMPAC 2014.
Officials with the Chinese Ministry of Defense defended the presence of an electronic surveillance ship off the coast of Hawaii during the U.S. led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise. Read More
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy electronic surveillance ship Beijixing (pennant number 851). A ship of this class is currently off the coast of Oahu, monitoring RIMPAC 2014.
China slipped an uninvited guest into the world’s largest naval exercise. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
In the U.S. Navy’s perfect world, the service will reach its goal of a 306-ship fleet by 2020, according to the service’s latest 30-year long-range shipbuilding report, submitted to Congress on July 1 and obtained by USNI News on Monday. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) on Nov. 24, 2013.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post indicated an amendment that would restrict money to fund a complex refueling and overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN-73) offered by Reps. Jared Polis (Colo.)and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) had passed. That amendment did not pass in the final House version of Fiscal Year 2015 defense bill. USNI News regrets the error.
House lawmakers preserved a legislative effort to keep the USS George Washington (CVN-73) to fund the start the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the carrier as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 defense bill. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) and its strike group in 2013. The House voted to refuel the carrier rather than decommission the ship early Thursday morning. US Navy Photo
House defense lawmakers soundly rejected proposed Pentagon cuts to a number of big-ticket weapons programs in their version of the department’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget blueprint. Read More
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo
A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee is imploring the U.S. Navy to ensure that the service’s forthcoming Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance the Strike (UCLASS) aircraft will be designed with enough range, payload and stealth to be relevant in a contest air environment. Read More
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) addressing the US Naval Institute Defense Forum Washington on Dec. 10, 2013. US Naval Institute Photo
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) expressed optimism in a pending congressional deal that may provide the Pentagon a modicum of fiscal stability. Read More
An EA-18G Growler from the Shadowhawks of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 on Oct. 10, 2013 US Navy Photo
A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee is imploring the Pentagon to preserve the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet production line until the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has completed its development cycle. Read More
The following is a Dec. 4, 2013 letter from Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. Read More
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo
Some potential builders of the Navy’s planned Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) are worried a shift in focus to the requirements of the program will negate years of private research into fielding the carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to a Sunday report in Flight.
The Navy undertook a non-traditional route in acquiring UCLASS. Instead of developing a list of requirements and holding a competition early in the program, the Navy instead waited to issue an outline for the aircraft’s requirements leaving companies to develop plans for the aircraft in a vacuum using their own funds for about three years. Read More
