CMC Berger to Senate: ‘There’s No Plan’ to Meet Amphib Warship Requirements

Amphibious warship Richard M. McCool, Jr., (LPD-29) on Aug. 4, 2022. USNI News Photo

The Marine Corps’ top officer told a Senate panel that he put a $1.75 billion warship on the top of his unfunded priorities list to show there’s no path to expand the U.S. amphibious ship inventory.

Speaking before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on Tuesday, Commandant Gen. David Berger said he saw a net reduction in the amphibious ship force because of the retirement of three older landing ship...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/28/cmc-berger-to-senate-theres-no-plan-to-meet-amphib-warship-requirements

Project Overmatch Targeting R&D Tops Navy’s Fiscal Year 2024 Wishlist, $550M for Facility Overhauls

Operations Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Ezekiel, assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61), identifies air contacts in the combat information center (CIC) on March 21, 2016. Monterey is underway conducting Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) with the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in preparation for a future deployment. US Navy photo.

If the Navy could ask for funds in Fiscal Year 2024, it would prioritize more infrastructure to target potential adversaries in support...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/24/project-overmatch-targeting-rd-tops-navys-fiscal-year-2024-wishlist-550m-for-facility-overhauls

$3.6B Marine Corps Wish List Again Asks for Stalled Amphibious Warship

Shipbuilder welding on the bow section of a future San Antonio-class amphibious warship at Ingalls Shipbuilding on Aug. 4, 2022. USNI News Photo

For the second year in a row, the Marine Corps is asking Congress for an amphibious warship the Navy doesn’t plan to buy.

At the top of the Marines’ Fiscal Year 2024 unfunded priorities list is $1.7 billion for LPD-33, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock that the Navy did not include in its five-year budget outlook released last week. While the...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/22/3-6b-marine-corps-wish-list-again-asks-for-stalled-amphibious-warship

DDG(X) $122M Land-Based Test Site Opens in Philadelphia

Notional Navy DDG(X) hull design. PEO Ships Image

Program Executive Officer Ships opened the land-based test facility for its next-generation guided-missile destroyer propulsion system in Philadelphia, the Navy announced this week.

The site at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division will host a $122 million full-scale complete integrated propulsion system for the DDG(X), according to a budget summary of the site reviewed by USNI News.

As part of the Fiscal Year 2020 and 2022...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/22/ddgx-122m-land-based-test-site-opens-in-philadelphia

OSD Comptroller Says U.S. Shipyards Can’t Build 3 Destroyers a Year

Arleigh Burke destroyers Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) and the Legend-class cutter Calhoun (WMSL-759) at Ingalls Shipbuilding on Aug. 4, 2022. USNI News Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy is keeping a two-ship-per-year cadence for its destroyer line because that’s a realistic goal for industry to work toward, according to the Pentagon’s top budget officer.

Despite Congress’ push for the Navy to start buying three Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyers per year,...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/21/osd-comptroller-says-u-s-shipyards-cant-build-3-destroyers-a-year

SECNAV, CNO Pushing Plans to Decommission 11 Warships in Fiscal Year 2024

USS Vicksburg (CG-69) getting repaired at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Va., on April 8, 2022. Christopher P. Cavas Photo used with permission

THE PENTAGON – After unveiling a budget that wants to decommission 11 warships next year, Navy officials are appealing to the public to allow the service to move ahead with their proposal.

Officials last week reiterated the Navy’s divest-to-invest approach, which argues the service needs to shed older ships to invest in newer capabilities and platforms.

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/20/secnav-cno-pushing-plans-to-decommission-11-warships-in-fiscal-year-2024

Japan Faces Readiness Hurdle As it Modernizes Military, Former Defense Chief Says

A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force CH-47 Chinook, lands on the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) during a bilateral simulated casualty pick up in the Philippine Sea, March 10, 2023. U.S. Marine Corps Photo

Japan’s toughest hurdle, as it launches an unprecedented military modernization program and doubles defense spending, is the operational readiness of its air, naval and land forces, a former chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces said Thursday.

Japan is “running out of maintenance...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/17/japan-faces-readiness-hurdle-as-it-modernizes-military-former-defense-chief-says

Navy and Marine Corps Debate Amphibious Ship Costs as Clash Over LPD-17 Flight II Line Continues

The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed Huntington Ingalls Shipyard to conduct Acceptance Trials in the Gulf of Mexico. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy halted its pursuit of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock line because of the program’s growing costs and delays in the shipyard, the service’s top officer said Wednesday.
The pause to reassess the LPD-17 Flight II line started a year ago at the direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chief of Naval...

https://news.usni.org/2023/03/15/navy-and-marine-corps-debate-amphibious-ship-costs-as-clash-over-lpd-17-flight-ii-line-continues

SECNAV Del Toro ‘Excited’ About New Landing Ship Mediums

ARLINGTON, Va. – Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the Navy and Marines have “got to get the right concept … and design” to move forward with the new Landing Ship Mediums – the vessels projected to augment larger amphibious vessels.

Investing in the new ships did not mean the Navy was pulling back its commitment to larger amphibious warships, Del Toro said Wednesday, speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association Expeditionary Warfare Conference.

There will “probably be more LPDs...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/22/secnav-del-toro-excited-about-new-landing-ship-mediums

Navy Lifts Deployment Restrictions on Sailors Not Vaccinated Against COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are pre-staged for a shot event in the hangar bay aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on Dec. 28, 2021. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The Navy will no longer consider COVID-19 vaccination status when making decisions about sailor deployments – a reversal of more than a year of service policy, according to new Navy guidance released this week.

COVID-19 vaccination status cannot be considered when determining if someone can be deployed, according to the new standardized...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/16/navy-lifts-deployment-restrictions-on-sailors-not-vaccinated-against-covid-19

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