The Virginia-class attack submarine North Dakota (SSN-784) is rolled out of an indoor shipyard facility at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., in Sept. 2013. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Navy will reexamine the assumptions behind its 308-ship requirement, as the operational landscape has changed drastically since the previous Force Structure Assessment (FSA). Read More
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Research, Development and Acquisition Sean J. Stackley visits Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head, Md. US Navy Photo
The Navy is doing “the best we can do for the dollars we have” but has developed its attack submarine acquisition plan, cruiser modernization plan and Littoral Combat Ship/frigate downselect plan based on funding shortfalls rather than strategic needs, Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley told the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee. Read More
Sean Stackley testifies during a Oct. 1, 2015 hearing. CSPAN Image
The sea services can “make mountains move” when confronting anti-ship missiles or torpedo threats to aircraft carriers, but what the Department of the Navy wants from Congress “is the ability to take those risks” in experimenting and prototyping more quickly to meet emerging needs, the Navy’s top acquisition official told the House Armed Services Committee Thursday. Read More
The name of the first in a class of new oilers planned for the U.S. Navy will be after Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a sitting member of the House of Representatives, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced on Wednesday. Read More
Sailors perform maintenance on an F/A-18C Hornet from the Romans of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in April 2013. US Navy photo.
The Navy’s aviation depots have seen a 40-percent increase in fighter jet throughput since they changed how to approach repairing the legacy F/A-18C Hornets a year ago, the Navy’s director of air warfare told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Read More
Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) prior to a replenishment-at-sea on June 29, 2015. US Navy Photo
The Navy has issued a request for proposal (RFP) directly to General Dynamics NASSCO and Huntington Ingalls Industries for the third America-class big deck amphibious warship and six next-generation oilers (TAO(X)), the service told USNI News. Read More
The first Mobile Landing Platform at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif. NASSCO Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The California shipyard the U.S. Navy relies on to build its auxiliary ships and some potential future amphibious warships is “one contract away,” from “peril,” the Navy’s top shipbuilder told a Senate panel on Wednesday. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
Adm. Jonathan Greenert - The Navy has increased its force structure goal by two ships, saying it would like to have 308 ships in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 instead of the 306 it stated last year. Read More
Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper (DDG-70) launches a standard missile (SM) 3 Blk IA during a 2009 exercise. US Navy Photo
CRYSTAL CITY, Va. — The Navy’s acquisition chief stressed the importance of modernizing ships in the fleet – particularly the ballistic missile defense (BMD) fleet – to keep them operating for their full service life, even as tight budgets are forcing the Navy not to upgrade five Aegis guided missile destroyers with a BMD capability over the next five years. Read More
A unit for the future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) rests on the assembly platen at Newport News Shipbuilding on March 5, 2014. US Navy Photo
In their first budget hearing of the year with the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Navy officials described their Fiscal Year 2016 plans that include speeding up construction of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) without changing its delivery date, hurrying to start the USS George Washington (CVN-73) Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) planning to avoid problems down the road, and abandoning hopes of procuring a third Afloat Forward Staging Base early. Read More
