Brought to You by the Members of the U.S. Naval Institute
U.S. Capitol on July 31, 2015, NASA Photo
The House and Senate armed services committees are committed to improving defense acquisition, boosting military readiness funding and breaking down Pentagon bureaucracy through their annual defense bills, even if these goals are at times causing friction with the Defense Department, the two committees’ staff directors said today. Read More
U.S. and Pakistan national anthems are played during the decommissioning ceremony of the guided-missile frigate USS McInerney (FFG-8) at Naval Station Mayport in 2010. US Navy Photo
When considering the future U.S. relations with Pakistan it’s important not to deal with Islamabad exclusively “through the lens of Afghanistan,” a Senate Armed Services Committee staffer said Thursday. Read More
Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.)
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he will introduce an amendment next week to raise by $18 billion authorized defense spending to cover the difference between what the Pentagon asked for in its last budget and what it is seeking in this one. Read More
The “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105 conduct a flyover during their homecoming at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. on April 17, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, laying out a spending plan that falls just short of a bill the House Armed Services Committee passed last month. 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
The first Flight III Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyer will be built at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, according to a Sunday statement from the Navy to USNI News. Read More
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan (right), the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, Deputy Commandant Aviation on May 20, 2015. US Marine Corps Photo
The F-35’s logistics information system’s inability to integrate engine data with other vital information about the aircraft is causing a two-month delay in the Air Force reaching its initial operating capability and forcing Marines to use “lots of time-consuming work-arounds” to keep their F-35 Lightning II’s flying. Read More
A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, performs a conventional take-off on Dec. 11, 2015. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps has not been affected by a software glitch that left the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters with radar resets and other software stability issues, the Marines’ top aviator told the Senate last week. Read More
The X-47B on the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Nov. 10, 2013. US Navy Photo
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy is sticking to its plans to field an unmanned MQ-XX Stingray platform with just tanking and surveillance capabilities to start with, while the Marine Corps is experimenting with the MQ-8C Fire Scout to help inform its path forward for amphibious assault ship-based unmanned aviation, officials said Wednesday. Read More
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency tests its Sea Hunter unmanned vehicle — the technology demonstration vessel it designed, developed and built through its anti-submarine warfare continuous trail unmanned vessel program, or ACTUV — in Portland, Ore., prior to an April 7 commissioning ceremony. DARPA photo.
CAPITOL HILL – Innovative Pentagon-level organizations such as the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are increasingly partnering with the Navy and other services as attention and money shifts away from wars in the Middle East and on to new ways of operating in a rapidly evolving environment, officials said Tuesday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Read More
The Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43), front, and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD-21), conduct an underway replenishment with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) while operating in the Mediterranean Sea in January 2015. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy and Marine Corps are developing concepts of operations for littoral operations in contested environments, including near Syria with Russian anti-access weapons deployed, officials told the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee this week. Read More
