Tag Archives: Sen. Roger Wicker

White House Calls for $3.4B Boost in Submarine Industrial Base Funding

White House Calls for $3.4B Boost in Submarine Industrial Base Funding

USS Oregon (SSN-788) pierside at General Dynamics Electric Boat on Feb. 28, 2022. USNI News Photo

The White House released a supplemental budget request Friday that included $3.4 billion to support the submarine industrial base as part of a larger $50 billion package that includes weapons for Ukraine and humanitarian aid for Israelis and Palestinians following the Hamas attacks in Gaza, according to the proposal reviewed by USNI News. Read More

Congressional Commission Calls for Third Nuclear Shipyard to Bolster U.S. Strategic Forces

Congressional Commission Calls for Third Nuclear Shipyard to Bolster U.S. Strategic Forces

Submarine construction continues apace in the latest US Navy budget request, which asks for two more Virginia-class submarines and another installment for the missile sub Columbia. Here, the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Montana (SSN-794) is seen just after launch in March 2021 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. HII Photo

The Pentagon needs a third shipyard that can build nuclear-powered ships so the U.S. can keep pace with China and Russia’s nuclear modernization, a congressional commission said in a new report published Thursday. Read More

Republicans Call for White House Shipbuilding Boost to Support AUKUS Attack Sub Sale

Republicans Call for White House Shipbuilding Boost to Support AUKUS Attack Sub Sale

Virginia-class submarine USS Oregon (SSN-793) transits the Thames River during routine operations in Groton, Conn., on Oct. 6. US Navy Photo

A group of Republican lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to boost submarine industrial base support with a claim the U.S. submarine force could be at risk if Washington goes through with the sale of Virginia-class nuclear attack boats to the Royal Australian Navy, according to the letter obtained by USNI News. Read More

Bipartisan Bill Calls for $25B in Infrastructure Funds for Shipyards

Bipartisan Bill Calls for $25B in Infrastructure Funds for Shipyards

Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Paul Villanyi, right, from Spring Hill, Florida, directs Cryptologic Technician (Maintenance) 2nd Class Patrick Shores, from Chicago, during a monitored maintenance conducted on the AS/4293-A V/UHF Acquisition Antenna on the forward masthead light-pole aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) on April 8, 2021. US Navy Photo

A group of bipartisan lawmakers have drafted legislation aimed at recapitalizing America’s public and private shipyards, as Congress and the Biden administration grapple with a nationwide infrastructure improvement plan. Read More

SECDEF Nominee Austin Affirms Threat From China, Will ‘Update’ National Defense Strategy

SECDEF Nominee Austin Affirms Threat From China, Will ‘Update’ National Defense Strategy

Defense Secretary nominee Lloyd Austin responds to a question during his Senate Armed Forces Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, 2021. DoD Photo

President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Defense Department plans to take another look at the National Defense Strategy should he be confirmed, he told lawmakers on Tuesday. Read More

UPDATED: Navy's New Shipbuilding Plan ‘Dead on Arrival,’ Lawmakers Say

UPDATED: Navy’s New Shipbuilding Plan ‘Dead on Arrival,’ Lawmakers Say

Tripoli (LHA-7) is launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. on March 1, 2017. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to include information from a Feb. 10 budget briefing with Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget.

The proposed Navy shipbuilding plan that cuts a Virginia-class submarine, a frigate and an oiler that were previously planned for FY 2021 received immediate bipartisan pushback from the House and the Senate. Read More