F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

Marines Buy 2 XQ-58A Valkyrie Drones for ‘Collaborative Killer’ Concept Testing

The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie is an experimental stealthy unmanned combat aerial vehicle designed and built by Kratos. US Air Force Photo

The Marine Corps used a new Pentagon program designedto quickly prototype systems for conflict in the Pacific to buy two unmanned aerial vehicles last month for $15.5 million, a service official told USNI News on Tuesday.

The contract to Kratos for the pair of XQ-58A Valkyrie “loyal wingman” drones was bought through the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/24/marines-buy-2-xq-58a-valkyrie-drones-for-collaborative-killer-concept-testing

Navy Buys 2 ‘Loyal Wingman’ XQ-58A Valkyrie Drones for $15.5M

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. US Air Force Photo

The Navy is buying two stealth unmanned aerial systems – originally developed for the Air Force – that could operate with a manned fighter, as the service pursues the manned-unmanned teaming concept officials say is central to the future of naval aviation.

The service issued a $15.5 million contract to Kratos for the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aerial system,...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/03/navy-buys-2-loyal-wingman-xq-58a-valkyrie-drones-for-15-5m

Report to Congress on Air Force Next-Generation Air Dominance Program

The following is the June 23, 2022 Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Air Force Next-Generation Air Dominance Program.

From the report

According to the Air Force, the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program is intended to develop “a portfolio of technologies enabling air superiority.” The Air Force intends for NGAD to replace the F-22 fighter jet beginning in 2030, possibly including a combination of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, with other systems and sensors. NGAD began as a...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/24/report-to-congress-on-air-force-next-generation-air-dominance-program

Navy’s F/A-XX Fighter Will be the ‘Quarterback’ for a Team of Unmanned Aircraft

An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the ‘Red Rippers’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11, lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), Jan. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo

The future F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter will operate as the Navy’s “quarterback” for manned and unmanned teaming in future carrier operations, according to the service.

Navy officials described the vision for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, meant to expand the range...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/28/navys-f-a-xx-fighter-will-be-the-quarterback-for-a-team-of-unmanned-aircraft

Navy Keeps Next-Generation Fighter Research Costs Classified For Third Consecutive Budget Cycle

An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the ‘Stingers’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113, recovers on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Sept. 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

THE PENTAGON – The Navy is spending more money to develop its sixth-generation fighter program but is keeping the costs classified for the third year in a row, the service said on Monday.

For the last three budget cycles, the Navy has classified the research and development dollars it’s...

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/29/navy-keeps-next-generation-fighter-research-costs-classified-for-third-consecutive-budget-cycle

CNO Gilday: Navy Balancing New SSN(X) Attack Submarine Design Against Need For NGAD, DDG(X)

USS South Dakota (SSN-790) stand at parade rest during a change-of-command ceremony onboard Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., Sept. 27, 2022. US Navy Photo

ABOARD THE NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINE USS SOUTH DAKOTA – A banner over the sonar operators in the control room of one of the Navy’s most technologically advanced submarines declares the attack boat is the service’s “Apex Predator.”

The sign – complete with a portrait of the alien from the 1987 sci-fi adventure film “The Predator”...

Hill Closer to an FY 22 Budget Deal as Navy Warns Against More CRs; White House Sets Pentagon FY 23 Topline at More than $770B

NASA Photo

SAN DIEGO, CALIF., – Congressional appropriators are closer to cementing a deal that would finalize the belated Fiscal Year 2022 defense budget, three legislative sources confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday.

The sources said the deal for the Department of Defense FY 2022 appropriations bill would be in line with the $768 billion FY 2022 authorization bill signed by President Joe Biden in late December. The FY 2022 spending bill would be about $25 to 30 billion more than the initial...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/16/hill-closer-to-a-fy-22-budget-deal-as-navy-warns-against-more-crs-white-house-sets-pentagon-fy-23-topline-at-more-than-770b

HASC Chairman’s Mark Adds 12 Navy Super Hornets, Preserves Navy Nuclear Cruise Missile Funds

Three U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets operating from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on June 8, 2020. US Navy Photo

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is preserving money to develop a new surface-launched nuclear cruise missile, and is adding 12 Super Hornets and a second guided-missile destroyer to the Navy’s shipbuilding plan, according to a copy of the chairman’s mark for the Fiscal Year 2022...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/25/hasc-chairmans-mark-adds-12-navy-super-hornets-preserves-navy-nuclear-cruise-missile-funds

SASC’s FY 22 Defense Bill Boosts DoD Topline by $25B; Adds 2nd Destroyer, More Navy F-35Cs

USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118) at Bath Iron Works

THE PENTAGON – The Senate Armed Services Committee Fiscal Year 2022 authorization bill adds an additional destroyer, a Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport and five more F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters for the Navy, according to a summary of the markup issued on Thursday by the SASC.

The additions are part of a $740.3 billion authorization bill that’s $25 billion more than the Pentagon’s initial budget request from late May.

The bill...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/22/sascs-fy-22-defense-bill-boosts-dod-topline-by-25b-adds-2nd-destroyer-more-navy-f-35cs

Navy Adjusts F-35C Squadron Size to End Fighter Shortfall by 2025

An F-35C Lighting II from the ‘Argonauts’ Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, left, a F/A-18F Super Hornet from the ‘Bounty Hunters’ VFA 2, center, and F/A-18E Super Hornets from the ‘Stingers’ VFA 113, right, sit on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) on Jan 30, 2021. US Navy Photo

Navy officials told a key House panel this week that by creating a different mix of aircraft in the future carrier air wing, the service could shave five years off the timetable to close the shortfall in...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/14/navy-adjusts-f-35c-squadron-size-to-end-fighter-shortfall-by-2025

+ More
Join Our Newsletter
Enter your email to receive a weekly round-up of shipping news.
icon
By subscribing, you agree with our privacy policy and our terms of service.