Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
If confirmed, provide an audit of acquisitions or risk cuts and delays in funding, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) warned a pair of nominees to be top civilian leaders in the Navy. Read More
Launch of guided-missle destroyer Delbert Black (DDG-119). HII Photo
Chances are the Navy’s leaders of a proposed 355-ship fleet have not even finished high school yet, according to Pentagon estimates. Read More
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Afghanistan with the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The two met with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other high-level officials. Discussions focused on the NATO-Afghanistan partnership, including the ongoing NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in support of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. DOD photo.
The defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate committee today that the war in Afghanistan is not yet near a point of resolution but that there are “clear and achievable” goals in the near-term. Read More
An artist’s conception of the AMDR AN/SPY-6(v) radar onboard an Arleigh Burke Flight III guided missile destroyer (DDG-51). Raytheon Image
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works was awarded a two destroyer deal that would include the construction of the second planned Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer (DDG-51) for the Navy, according to a Thursday Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
Test array for the AN/SPY-6(v) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. Raytheon Photo
The radar bound for the Navy’s new Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers successfully tracked a complex ballistic missile target as part of a battery of tests to prove out the new system, Naval Sea Systems Command announced on Thursday. Read More
A crane moves the lower stern into place on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) at Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. on June 22, 2017. HII Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Spending more money now to increase the Navy’s fleet size will signal to potential adversaries their victory at sea is not possible, but accomplishing this is neither cheap nor quick, a quartet of experts told a Senate panel on Tuesday. Read More
Outspoken Littoral Combat Ship and frigate critic Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said today he is “cautiously optimistic” after reading the Navy’s first official account of what the updated frigate requirements may look like, according to a statement from his office. Read More
Littoral Combat Ships USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Coronado (LCS-4) sit at the pier at Naval Station San Diego on Feb. 17, 2016. USNI News photo.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated where a nuclear reactor the Trump administration delayed to free up funds for a second Littoral Combat Ship would be used. The reactor will be installed as part of a yet to be determined carrier overhaul, not on USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).
The Trump administration is pushing back the purchase of a reactor core for a future carrier overhaul carrier, savings on amphibious ship modernization and deferring a radar for a destroyer upgrade to pay about $500 million for second Littoral Combat Ship hull in the second budget. Read More
Four F-35B Lightning II aircraft perform a flyover above the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on Nov. 20, 2016. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act piles on more ships and aircraft over the Pentagon’s request in a plan that spends more than $20 billion above the Trump administration’s request, according to an executive summary of the legislation that the SASC issued on Wednesday night. Read More
Artists rendering of the first planned Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer, Jack H. Lucas. HII Photo
Huntington Ingalls Industries won an award to build the first of a new configuration of Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers, according to a Tuesday Pentagon contract announcement. Read More
