Tag Archives: Virginia-class submarines

Annapolis Couple Charged with Selling Submarine Secrets Appear in Court, Detention Hearings Scheduled for Friday

Annapolis Couple Charged with Selling Submarine Secrets Appear in Court, Detention Hearings Scheduled for Friday

Submarine construction continues apace in the latest US Navy budget request, which asks for two more Virginia-class submarines and another installment for the missile sub Columbia. Here, the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Montana (SSN-794) is seen just after launch in March 2021 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. HII Photo

This post has been updated to include comments from Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

The initial hearings for an Annapolis, Md., couple charged with violating the Atomic Energy Act each lasted four minutes, with the couple released into the custody of U.S. Marshals until a detention hearing later this week. Read More

FBI Arrests Navy Nuclear Engineer, Wife Accused of Selling Submarine Secrets

FBI Arrests Navy Nuclear Engineer, Wife Accused of Selling Submarine Secrets

USS Vermont (SSN 792) makes her way up the Thames River and past the City of New London as she returns home after conducting routine operations to Submarine Base New London on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, while a brief snow squall passes through the Groton New London area. The nineteenth and newest Virginia-class submarine she is the third U.S. Navy ship to be named for the Green Mountain State. (U.S. Navy Photo by John Narewski/Released)

An Annapolis, Md., couple with U.S. Navy ties were arrested Saturday and charged with espionage-related charges after passing classified documents to FBI agents posing as members of an unspecified country, according to unsealed court documents. Read More

CNO Gilday: Developing, Building Australian Nuclear Submarine Could Take Decades

CNO Gilday: Developing, Building Australian Nuclear Submarine Could Take Decades

Collins-class attack boats HMAS Dechaineux leads HMAS Waller and HMAS Sheean in formation in Cockburn Sound, near Rockingham Western Australia in 2013. RAN Photo

The effort to build Australia’s fleet of nuclear attack submarines could take decades to both design the boats and create the shipbuilding capacity and adequate oversight to support the effort, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Thursday. Read More

Panel: Australian Nuclear Sub Deal  'Went Terribly Wrong' with America's NATO Allies

Panel: Australian Nuclear Sub Deal ‘Went Terribly Wrong’ with America’s NATO Allies

The French design of the Attack-class submarine that was canceled by Australia last week. Naval Group image

Australia’s decision to turn to Washington and London for nuclear-powered submarines to bolster its security was a “no brainer” for Canberra, but it is a decision that “went terribly wrong” with NATO partners, an expert in European defense matters said Tuesday. Read More

Australia Needs Nuclear Sub for 'Regional Superiority' Defense Minister Says; France Recalls Ambassadors to U.S., Australia

Australia Needs Nuclear Sub for ‘Regional Superiority’ Defense Minister Says; France Recalls Ambassadors to U.S., Australia

USS Vermont (SSN-792) transits the Thames River while conducting routine operations on Oct. 15, 2020. US Navy Photo

Australia’s defense minister said his country entered a new trilateral agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom because “we needed a nuclear-powered submarine for regional superiority,” adding more American deployments of forces, “aircraft of all types” and providing logistical and sustainment facilities for U.S. Navy ships can be expected in the future. Read More

French Attack Boat Design, Costs Opened Door to Nuclear Australian Sub Says Expert

French Attack Boat Design, Costs Opened Door to Nuclear Australian Sub Says Expert

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Proposed Attack-class submarine for the Australian Navy. DCNS Photo

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Australia’s surprise move to procure nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) with U.S. and U.K. follows difficulties the country has experienced on its SEA 1000 Attack-class future submarine program and the realization that a conventionally powered submarine (SSK) will not meet its future needs, a regional defense expert told USNI News. Read More

Australia to Pursue Nuclear Attack Subs in New Agreement with U.S., U.K.

Australia to Pursue Nuclear Attack Subs in New Agreement with U.S., U.K.

Trafalgar-class attack submarine HMS Triumph, glides into HM Naval Base Clyde. Royal Navy Photo

This story has been updated with remarks from President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The U.S. plans to share its submarine nuclear propulsion technology with a top ally in the Indo-Pacific, as countries in the region look for ways to hedge against China. Read More

Acting SECNAV Harker: Navy in Favor of Accelerating Shipyard Revitalization Plan

Acting SECNAV Harker: Navy in Favor of Accelerating Shipyard Revitalization Plan

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) prepares to pull into Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. in 2017. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to correct the committee acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker was testifying in front of.

The Navy welcomes the chance to speed up its 20-year effort to revitalize the nation’s public shipyards, the service’s acting secretary said today. Read More