Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) on May 28, 2014. US Navy Photo
The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 defense appropriations bill which limits the number of Ticonderoga class cruisers the Navy can lay up as well as includes funds for long lead items for the midlife refueling of carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73), according to a version of the bill released on Tuesday. Read More
Two EA-18G Growlers assigned to the Cougars of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 to the flight deck. on USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on May 31, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is taking steps to preserve the Boeing EA-18G Growler production line, modernize the entire fleet of Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers and keeping the option open to refuel the carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) in its version of the fiscal year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. 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.
A sailor directs an EA-18G Growler from the Cougars of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on May 21, 2014 US Navy Photo
House appropriators side stepped proposed cuts to the Navy’s maritime and aviation fleets on Friday, unanimously approving plans to finance a slew of service-led shipbuilding and air programs in the upcoming fiscal year. Read More
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 Hue City (CG 66) returns to its homeport of Naval Station Mayport in 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy is investigating fire onboard guided missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) during the ship’s transit of the Atlantic on its way to a deployment in the Mediterranean, Navy officials told USNI News Wednesday.
USS Mahan (DDG 72) at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. US Navy Photo
The Navy needs to perfect three technologies on its quest for its next generation of large warships, Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, director of surface warfare (N96) for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) told USNI News in an interview in the Pentagon on Jan. 9. Read More
USS Cape St. George (CG-71) approaches Naval Base San Diego. US Navy Photo
“Money is better spent on buying back the life of younger ships” with 25 to 30 years left, than putting it into seven cruisers the Navy wants to retire in 2015, the deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems told a key House subcommittee on 26 April.
Vice Adm. William Burke said, “We have to balance our books” and the way the Navy chose to do that a year ago was retiring the cruisers and two landing ship docks (LSDs) early. “I would prefer to put money into destroyers,” he said, adding that “we have enough” cruisers, all nine of which the Navy intends to operate normally until they are decommissioned. Read More
The future of certain Navy and Marine Corps programs remain in doubt while a temporary legislative funding measure takes effect on Monday. A little over a week ago, Congress approved a six-month spending package that will give the House and Senate until March of 2013 to decide how to meet the nation’s financial obligations, including funding for the Department of Defense (DoD).
The so-called Continuing Resolutions (CR), allow the government to remain open and operating but they also prevent DoD from starting any new programs and require funding levels for current programs to remain essentially the same. For the DoD overall, the funding continuation means a half-percent increase in the topline, but restrictions in the bill hit the Navy and Marine Corps especially hard. Shipbuilding programs could stall and multi-year buys of fighter and vertical lift aircraft could be put off, driving up costs and impacting readiness.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) departs Naval Station Norfolk and begins a towing operation to Northrop Grumman Newport News Ship Building for a Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) in 2009. U.S. Navy Photo.
But the Navy’s two biggest issues in the CR were funding for a pair of aircraft carrier midlife maintenance projects called RCOHs or Refueling and Complex Overhaul. USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) is scheduled to finish its three-year, $2.5 billion rebuild in June 2013, but the CR funded only half of the expected costs. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is scheduled to start its downtime next year as well, but new programs are specifically prohibited under the CR.
