NASA Photo
The House on Thursday passed the annual defense policy bill with a $23.9 billion increase to the defense top line and a significant boost to the Navy’s shipbuilding account. Read More
USS Tripoli (LHA-7) arrives at its new homeport at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 13, 2020. US Navy Photo
This story has been updated to include more information about the amphibious warship the HASC bill authorizes.
The House Armed Services Committee early Thursday approved its annual defense policy bill, boosting the Navy’s shipbuilding account and authorizing 13 battleforce ships. Read More
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding on June 5, 2021. HII Photo
This story has been updated to include more information about the amphibious warship included in the amendment put forth by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.).
The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday adopted an amendment that would authorize four additional battleforce ships for the Navy and increase the overall Defense Department topline by $23.9 billion. Read More
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley testifies before the House Appropriations Committee-Defense on the Fiscal 2022 Department of Defense Budget in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, Washington, D.C., May 27, 2021. Defense Department Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said “China is coming at us rapidly” – economically, diplomatically and militarily, and that challenge is putting existing international behavior “under tremendous stress.” Read More
Sailors assigned to Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 11 sail through San Diego Bay aboard 34-foot Sea Ark patrol boat as part of sea trials during Maritime Expeditionary Security Group (MESG) 1’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) on July 20, 2021. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee readiness subcommittee wants to make sure the independent report on the health of the Navy’s fleet continues in perpetuity.
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Tyrell Lewis, a student in the Detachment Hawaii Enhanced Squad Leader Course, aims a dummy rocket launcher at the rocket station, one of twelve stations in the initial performance assessment portion of the course, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, April 8, 2021. The course is an experimental proof of concept, with the intent of modernizing training and providing squad leaders with new capabilities. US Marine Corps photo.
The chief of naval operations and commandant of the Marine Corps say they are increasingly clear on how they’d want to fight a peer adversary, what attributes would make their forces successful and what platforms they need to equip that force. Now, they just need help from Congress turning that into a budget everyone can agree upon, they say. Read More
Guided-missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) was inducted into the Cruiser Modernization program on Oct. 3, 2019. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to clarify that Rep. Rob Wittman would like to see a defense budget of $757 billion, which equals the Fiscal Year 2021 enacted budget plus inflation. In his spoken remarks, he mistakenly said $753 billion.
The Navy is facing pressure to find savings within its own budget to pay for investments in future technologies like unmanned vehicles and hypersonic and directed energy weapons – but those savings shouldn’t come from the early decommissioning of cruisers and amphibious ships, a key lawmaker said today. Read More
Guided-missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) was inducted into the Cruiser Modernization program on Oct. 3, 2019. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated to clarify the timeline for the Flight III DDGs’ entry to the fleet.
A plan to keep the Navy’s guided-missile cruiser fleet operating through the end of the 2030s is struggling as the ships show there’s a very real cost in time and money to keep old platforms around for the sake of having a larger fleet. Read More
Poster for USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) 2016. US Navy Photo
A long-standing independent report on the health of the U.S. Navy is set to end this year unless Congress acts, USNI News has learned.
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Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl, President of the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV), and then Capt. Kyle Higgins, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), converse in the hangar bay aboard Ike in 2019. US Navy Photo
Navy ship readiness has trended down over the past three years, with many ship systems on surface ships and submarines, in particular, showing lower readiness scores in Fiscal Year 2020 compared to the recent average, according to the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) annual report released today. Read More
