USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) transits the Indian Ocean during a surface target exercise on March 12, 2021. US Navy Photo
As Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday prepares for a battle with lawmakers over a divisive plan to strike more than a dozen vessels from the fleet, the service’s top officer said Tuesday that he’s using investments to prepare for the fleet emerging in 2025. Read More
Guided-missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) was inducted into the Cruiser Modernization program on Oct. 3, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s push to retire seven guided-missile cruisers stems from management and planning in its original modernization program that caused exorbitant cost growth, according to service officials. Read More
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) transits the Gulf of Alaska as part of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group on May 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
This story has been updated to correct the number of missile cells on a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the planned number of missile cells on a Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LUSV).
The Navy’s proposal to decommission seven guided-missile cruisers from the fleet in the next fiscal year met extensive questions from House lawmakers on Thursday. Read More
The crew of USS Little Rock (LCS-9) man the rails during the ship’s commissioning ceremony Dec. 16, 2017 in Buffalo, N.Y. US Navy Photo
This story has been updated to include comments from the Navy’s budget briefing.
The Navy wants to cut four Littoral Combat Ships from the fleet as part of a cost-saving measure that will net the service $186 million, according to the service’s latest budget request. Read More
An undated photo of a Watson-class LMSR. MSC Photo
House lawmakers are calling on U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Maritime Administration to create a sealift strategy amid decades of concerns over the capacity of the sealift fleet. Read More
Littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) returns to Naval Base San Diego from her final deployment, April 12, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy will decommission the service’s first two Littoral Combat Ships later this year, USNI News has learned. Read More
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Tyrell Lewis, a student in the Detachment Hawaii Enhanced Squad Leader Course, aims a dummy rocket launcher at the rocket station, one of twelve stations in the initial performance assessment portion of the course, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, April 8, 2021. The course is an experimental proof of concept, with the intent of modernizing training and providing squad leaders with new capabilities. US Marine Corps photo.
The chief of naval operations and commandant of the Marine Corps say they are increasingly clear on how they’d want to fight a peer adversary, what attributes would make their forces successful and what platforms they need to equip that force. Now, they just need help from Congress turning that into a budget everyone can agree upon, they say. Read More
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61) transits the Mediterranean Sea on March 24, 2021. US Navy Photo
The vice-chair of the House Armed Services Committee does not support the Navy’s “divest to invest” strategy of ridding the fleet of aging and expensive-to-maintain ships and systems to free up money for the development of unmanned platforms and other new technology, saying the sea service needs to focus on getting ready for a near-term battle instead of looking too far out into the future. Read More
Chief Warrant Officer Glen Spitnale, an inspector from the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV), speaks to Operations Specialist 2nd Class Garland Sebastian aboard USS Cole (DDG-67) on Dec. 5, 2017. US Navy Photo
Two House lawmakers on Friday introduced legislation that, if passed, would keep the long-standing independent report on Navy ships going in perpetuity. Read More
The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), transits the Caribbean Sea, April 10, 2021. Sioux City is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. US Navy Photo
Two lawmakers raised questions on the future of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship during a Wednesday hearing, as the service continues to wrestle with a crucial design flaw, how it will use the ships operationally and retirements of early hulls in the class. Read More
