Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard address sailors attached to Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 during an all-hands call at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. US Navy Photo
NORFOLK, VA. — The sequestration restrictions on military funding are not likely to go away anytime soon and could result in a U.S. naval force of 250 ships, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard said on Tuesday. Read More
If the Pentagon does not receive financial help from Congress relatively quickly, the department will be compelled to cut modernization spending even further and eliminate infrastructure, the Defense Department’s number two civilian said on Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 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
Mike Petters — chief executive officer of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) — said delays in U.S. Navy contracts for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of USS George Washington (CVN-73) and construction contracts for the second Gerald Ford carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) are causing the shipbuilder concern, during a Thursday call with investors. Read More
AV-8B Harriers sit on the flight deck at night aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) on Oct. 3, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Marine Corps will phase out the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump jet by 2025 — about five years earlier than planned — and will instead extend the life of its fleet of aging Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, according to the service’s recently released 2015 aviation plan. Read More
A Standard Missile – 3 (SM-3) Block 1B interceptor is launched from the USS LAKE ERIE (CG-70) in 2013. Missile Defense Agency Photo
Legislators are planning to hold hearings based on concerns over the Navy’s scheme to modernize its cruiser and destroyer fleet, according to a statement from the chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee provided to USNI News. Read More
USS Halsey (DDG-97), USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) and USS Gridley (DDG-101) underway on May, 23 2014. US Navy Photo
Budget pressure and an insatiable demand for ships capable of bulls eyeing ballistic missiles drove the Navy to alter its plan to upgrade Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51), officials with the Navy surface warfare policy division (OPNAV N96) told USNI News during a Thursday briefing at the Pentagon.
USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) returns to her homeport of Mayport, Fla., following the completion of a six-month deployment in 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy has quietly reduced the scope of upgrades to its guided missile destroyers in a move that could make up to a quarter of the fleet a target of early decommissioning due to obsolescence, USNI News has learned.
USS George Washington (CVN-73) on Nov. 24, 2013.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post indicated an amendment that would restrict money to fund a complex refueling and overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN-73) offered by Reps. Jared Polis (Colo.)and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) had passed. That amendment did not pass in the final House version of Fiscal Year 2015 defense bill. USNI News regrets the error.
House lawmakers preserved a legislative effort to keep the USS George Washington (CVN-73) to fund the start the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the carrier as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 defense bill. Read More
The following is an April, 2014 report from the Department of Defense on the projected impact of so-called sequestration cuts from the Budget Control Act of 2011 on the U.S. military. Read More
An infantry Marine with 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, walks across a field during a security patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 20, 2014. US Marine Corps Photo
The Marine Corps is preparing for its new normal with a force of 175,000, that plans to operate under the constraints of sequestration, the assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, told a key Senate subcommittee on Wednesday. Read More
