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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USS Charleston (LCS-18) arrives for a contactless port visit ahead of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka on June 23, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy will have six Littoral Combat Ships deployed by the end of the year – a record for the program, several Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News. Read More
Participants in the ‘Using Personal Light Treatment Devices to Enhance Performance of Submariners’ study aboard the USS Vermont, wearing their assigned PLTDs. Officers in the blue light glasses (left, and third from left) are at the beginning of their shifts and officers in the orange (blue light blocking) glasses (second from left, right) are at the end of their shifts and are preparing to go to sleep. US Navy Photo
A group of Navy researchers is studying whether blue-blocking glasses or blue-emitting light might be effective countermeasures against fatigue and poor sleep that often plague submariners starved of natural light. Read More
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley answer questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 10, 2021. DoD Photo
Pentagon leaders faced tough questions from lawmakers on the Navy’s decision to shelve the development of a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile during a Thursday budget hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Read More
The Navy only has funds to develop follow-ons either the (top) F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, (middle) Arleigh Burke DDG-51guided-missile destroyer or (bottom) the Virginia-class submarine (SSN-774). Navy Images
This post has been updated with additional details from the June 4, 2021 memo.
The Navy only has enough money to develop either a new next-generation fighter, destroyer or submarine and will have to pick one platform to invest in, according to a recent memo obtained by USNI News. Read More
Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) leads a formation including the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Pinckney (DDG-91) and USS Kidd (DDG-100), and the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) during U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) on April 21, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy has stood up an office to craft the next major surface combatant after more than ten years of starts and stops. On Friday, the service held a small ceremony to open the Guided-Missile Destroyer (DDG(X)) program office, designated as PMS 460 under Program Executive Office Ships, with a goal to start construction of a new design by Fiscal Year 2028, the service said in a statement provided to USNI News. Read More
USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) transits through the East China Sea on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy is seeking nearly $110 million to help research and develop its next-generation destroyer and submarine programs, according to service budget documents. Read More
Ingalls Shipbuilding in May 2019. HII Photo
A second destroyer and funding for the Navy’s emerging tactical grid are on top of the Navy’s unfunded wish list to Congress, according to a copy of the report reviewed by USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
The Independence-variant littoral combat ships USS Montgomery (LCS 8) and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) operate in the South China Sea, accompanied by an MH-60S Sea Hawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, Jan. 28, 2020. US Navy photo
The Navy is now pushing the Littoral Combat Ships out into the Pacific in force after more than a decade of stops and starts and studies. Read More
Virginia-class submarine USS Vermont (SSN-792) as she returns home to Submarine Base New London on Thursday, on Dec. 24, 2020. US Navy Photo
Some parts on Virginia-class attack boats are wearing out faster than the Navy anticipated 20 years ago, and buying replacement parts is further straining a nuclear submarine industrial base that’s already juggling an expansion of construction of new hulls and maintaining the current fleet.
