CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives released Fiscal Year 2020 defense spending plans this week, focusing on increasing the Pentagon’s technological superiority to near-peer competitors.
Tag Archives: Senate Armed Services Committee
CNO Nominee Moran: Navy Needs More Funds to Grow, Crew 355-Ship Fleet
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran speaks to sailors aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55). Navy photo
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy has plans to increase the size of its fleet and the number of personnel in uniform, but paying for it all is a major concern for the nominee to serve as the next Chief of Naval Operations. Read More
Berger: Marine Corps May Have to Shrink to Afford Modernization, Readiness Goals
U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, currently attached to 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, conduct morning accountability before dawn on April 5, 2019 during Exercise Balikatan at the Navy Education Training Command, Philippines. US Marine Corps Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The next commandant may need to reduce the size of the Marine Corps and focus on a smaller number of priority missions, to ensure that the service can stay ready to meet its requirements under the National Defense Strategy in a resource-constrained budget. Read More
CNO Nominee Moran, CMC Nominee Berger Answers to Senate’s Advance Questions
The following are answers Chief of Naval Operations nominee Adm. Bill Moran and Commandant of the Marine Corps nominee Gen. David Berger provided to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) ahead of their April 30, 2019 nomination hearing. Read More
Navy, Marine Corps Moving to ‘Zero-Based Budgeting’ to Encourage Reform, Cut Lower Priorities
Navy supply officer takes inventory. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – In a time of budget uncertainty, the Navy and Marine Corps are taking steps to ensure that every dollar given to them by Congress counts, service leadership said. Read More
F-35 Software Upgrade Program Will Field Capabilities Sooner, But Delay Purchase of New Fighters
U.S. Marine Sgt. Maj. Allen Goodyear, the squadron sergeant major for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, signals for an F-35B Lightning II to take off from the flight deck of the USS Essex (LHD-2) during Exercise Dawn Blitz. US Marine Corps Photo
CAPITOL HILL – A move to a continuous upgrade system for the Joint Strike Fighter software will help pilots deploy with the latest and greatest warfighting capabilities, but the move is costing the Navy the ability to procure more new planes in the near-term, officials told the Senate this week. Read More
Marine Corps, Lockheed Martin to Sign CH-53K Helo Production Contract in ‘Weeks’
The CH-53K King Stallion lifts a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, January 18, 2018. The purpose of this exercise was to show the Capabilities of the CH-53K. US Marine Corps photo.
CAPITOL HILL – The Department of the Navy expects to sign a contract with Lockheed Martin for the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter “in the next coming weeks,” after a pause and a program restructuring effort that sought to rebalance risk and reward between the government and contractor. Read More
SECNAV Proposes Fifth Assistant Navy Secretary To Run Cybersecurity
Sailors stand watch in the Fleet Operations Center at the headquarters of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet.
Ensuring the cybersecurity of the Navy’s industrial base and overseeing the service’s offensive and defensive cyber capabilities will become the responsibility of a proposed fifth assistant secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer told lawmakers on Tuesday. Read More
Pentagon Developing Low-Yield Nuclear Cruise Missiles For Submarines
A deck view, looking toward the bow, of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine OHIO (SSBN-726) with its missile tubes opened during pre-commissioning activities. The submarine, built by General Dynamics Corp., carries Trident C-4 (UGM-96) submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon is in the early stages of developing low-yield submarine-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, a senior Department of Defense official told lawmakers Wednesday.
After Hearings, Lawmakers Call Truman Carrier Retirement Plan ‘Ridiculous’
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 12, 2018. US Navy photo.
CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers told industry representatives today that, if it wasn’t already clear from their hearings with Pentagon and Navy leadership this week, they had no intention of letting the Defense Department shed an aircraft carrier instead of refuel it. Read More
