An E/A-18G Growler from the Shadowhawks of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) on Nov. 3, 2014. US Navy photo.
The Pentagon’s new Electronic Warfare (EW) Executive Committee was created this week to refocus the services on matters of EW strategy and operational capability, according to the memo signed Tuesday establishing the committee. Read More
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56), front, the Republic of Korea Navy Aegis-class destroyer ROKS Seoae-Yu-Seong-Ryong (DDG-993), middle, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85). US Navy Photo
The sea services cannot buy their way to successfully implementing the Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, the service chiefs said on Friday. Instead, they will have to pay close attention to how they man, organize and partner with other militaries to ensure they achieve all the capabilities required by the strategy. Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) leads ships from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 during a maneuvering exercise on Sept. 23, 2014. US Navy Photo
Lawmakers and Navy leadership spent the past year going back and forth over how to count the number of ships in the Battle Force fleet. The Navy made some changes last spring that immediately increased the size of the fleet and complicated the ship-counting effort: certain ships would count only if they were forward deployed but not if they returned home to the United States. Congress pushed back, passing into law what was essentially a compromise counting rule – and the third methodology to be used in a one-year span.
As a result of the back-and-forth, the Navy’s most recent ship-count projection it submitted to Congress contains two sets of figures: one with the Navy’s preferred method, and one following Congress’s rule.
The dueling methods have led to confusing charts and tables earlier this year, but the conflict over how to count Navy ships is not new – the Carter and Reagan administrations both created their own sets of rules for counting ships. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) and its strike group in 2013. US Navy Photo
Navy leadership hopes to have a surge force of three Carrier Strike Groups (CSG) and three Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) by 2020 to respond to major contingencies, compared to today’s one CSG and one ARG – but those plans depend on Congress fully funding the Navy’s implementation of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (O-FRP), Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. Read More
USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) on Nov. 25, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Program Executive Office for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) began a series of tests on its modified Longbow Hellfire missile from a surrogate test platform, with a successful first test after some weather delays. Read More
USS Arlington (LPD-24) under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding. Huntington Ingalls Industries Photo
Adm. Jonathan Greenert - The Navy has increased its force structure goal by two ships, saying it would like to have 308 ships in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 instead of the 306 it stated last year. Read More
The mobile landing platform Lewis B. Puller (T-MLP-3/T-AFSB-1) successfully completed launch and float-off at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) shipyard on Nov. 6, 2014. US Navy Photo
The Marines are looking to employ new types of ships to extend the reach of special crisis response units into Africa, senior service leaders have told USNI News. Read More
A Boeing artist’s conception of a potential design for F/A-XX. Boeing Photo
The U.S. Navy has formally asked the defense industry to participate in a series of exchanges to provide technical insights into the next-generation replacement for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler in the 2030s. Read More
An undated photo of INS Kolkata. Indian Navy Photo
India’s first modern guided missile destroyer formally entered the fleet on Saturday in a formal commissioning ceremony — three years behind schedule, according to local press reports. Read More
India’s P-8I Neptune.
In the last three years, the U.S. has surpassed Russia as the number one military vendor to India, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told the Indian parliament on Tuesday. Read More
