Battle Force 2045

After 9 Months of Study, Pentagon’s Fleet Architecture Similar to Original Navy Plan

Defense Secretary Mark Esper tours the avenger class minesweeper USS Devastator, docked at Naval Support Activity Bahrain on Oct. 28, 2020. DoD Photo

At the beginning of the year, the Navy and Marine Corps sent a new fleet plan to Pentagon leaders that called for relying on smaller ships and unmanned vessels to meet future missions and defeat future adversaries. The Pentagon rejected the plan.

Nine-months later, Pentagon leaders reached the same conclusion: the Navy needed to be more distributed...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/04/after-9-months-of-study-pentagons-fleet-architecture-similar-to-original-navy-plan

BWXT CEO: Navy’s Next-Generation SSN(X) Attack Boat Will Build Off Columbia Class

Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN-780) on May 31, 2018. US Navy Photo

The Navy’s next attack submarine will feature technology in the Columbia-class program and be significantly larger than the current class of the Virginia-class attack submarines, the chief executive of BWX Technologies said on Monday as part of the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

The head of the company that builds the nuclear reactors for the Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines said the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/02/bwxt-ceo-navys-next-generation-ssnx-attack-boat-will-build-off-columbia-class

HASC Chairman Smith: A Biden Administration Would Revisit Nuclear Posture Review

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN-739) off the coast of California on March 26, 2018. US Navy Photo

An administration under former Vice President Joe Biden would likely reassess the nuclear posture review, according to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said during a virtual event hosted by the Center for a New American Security on Thursday that, should Biden win next week’s...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/30/hasc-chairman-smith-a-biden-administration-would-revisit-nuclear-posture-review

Navy EOD Lays Out Strategic Plan For Modernizing Domain Awareness, Force Protection Against Peer Threat

Sailors from the Royal Netherlands Navy and Royal Canadian Navy observe Sailors assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 unmanned systems platoon deploy a Mark 18 Mod 2 unmanned underwater vehicle during an expeditionary mine countermeasures evolution as part of exercise Bold Alligator 2017 (#BA17) on Oct. 21, 2017 at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Improving Navy-Marine Corps amphibious core competencies along with coalition, NATO, Allied and partner nations is a necessary investment in the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/23/navy-eod-lays-out-strategic-plan-for-modernizing-domain-awareness-force-protection-against-peer-threat

SECDEF Esper’s ‘Battle Force 2045’ Plan Still Awaiting White House Approval

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper conducts Virtual Engagement with Industry Partners at the Pentagon on Oct. 21, 2020. DoD Photo

Two weeks after Defense Secretary Mark Esper unveiled the outline for his Battle Force 2045 initiative to grow the Navy to more than 500 ships, the Trump administration has yet to give final approval.

A week before Esper’s Oct. 6 speech outlining the bullet points of the fleet proposal that would set the course of Navy shipbuilding for the next two decades, the White...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/21/secdef-espers-battle-force-2045-plan-still-awaiting-white-house-approval

Navy Claims Victories in Modernizing Public Yards While Congress Questions Pace

USS Boise (SSN 764) arrived at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division to begin its 25-month extended engineering overhaul on June 18, 2018, but ultimately had to return to Naval Station Norfolk to continue awaiting maintenance because there was no room at Newport News for the sub amid two other boats’ maintenance overruns. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ photo.

The Navy is moving into the next phase of a wholesale revision of its ship maintenance infrastructure. Last...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/19/navy-claims-victories-in-modernizing-public-yards-while-congress-questions-pace

Chinese Increasing Nuclear Submarine Shipyard Capacity

H I Sutton Image. Used with permission

As China pushes to become a blue-water power, nuclear-powered submarines are critically important to Beijing’s plan. Historically the Chinese Navy’s (PLAN) nuclear-powered submarine fleet has been constrained by its limited construction capacity. There is only one shipyard in the country up to the task. But that yard has been undergoing a massive enlargement. And now, recent satellite imagery suggests an additional capacity expansion.

China’s nuclear-powered...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/12/chinese-increasing-nuclear-submarine-shipyard-capacity

SECDEF Esper Calls for 500-Ship Fleet by 2045, With 3 SSNs a Year and Light Carriers Supplementing CVNs

The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group transits in formation with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group while conducting dual carrier and airwing operations in the Philippine Sea on June 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced a new future fleet plan for the Navy that would grow the attack submarine force, supplement nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with light carriers to achieve greater day-to-day presence, and invest heavily in small and unmanned ships for distributed...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/06/secdef-esper-calls-for-500-ship-fleet-by-2045-with-3-ssns-a-year-and-light-carriers-supplementing-cvns

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