Fiscal Year 2021

Report to Congress on Navy Medium Landing Ship

The following is the April 13, 2023, Congressional Research Service report Navy Medium Landing Ship (LSM) (Previously Light Amphibious Warship [LAW]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The Navy’s Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, previously called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program, envisions procuring a class of 18 to 35 new amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new Marine Corps operational concept called Expeditionary...

https://news.usni.org/2023/04/14/report-to-congress-on-navy-medium-landing-ship

CBO Report on Super Hornet Availability

The following is the Feb. 9, 2023, Congressional Budget Office report, Availability and Use of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Fighter Aircraft.

From the report

  • Availability Rates by Fiscal Year Are Lower and Declined Faster for Both Types of Hornets
    Than for the Rest of the Department of the Navy’s Fleet. Availability rates of Super Hornets
    declined markedly between the mid-2000s and the mid-2010s; the older F/A-18C/D Hornets
    experienced a longer and steeper drop. Both types of Hornets experienced...

    • https://news.usni.org/2023/02/10/cbo-report-on-super-hornet-availability

    Report to Congress on the Light Amphibious Warship

    The following is the July 20, 2022, Congressional Research Service report Navy Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

    From the report

    The Navy’s Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program envisions procuring a class of up to 35 new amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new Marine Corps operational concept called Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO). The Navy had previously envisioned procuring the first LAW in...

    https://news.usni.org/2022/07/21/report-to-congress-on-the-light-amphibious-warship

    Report to Congress on F-15EX Eagle II Fighter

    The following is the Nov. 3, 2021, Congressional Research Service report: Air Force F-15EX Eagle II Fighter Program.

    From the report

    On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Air Force took delivery of its first F-15EX Eagle II fighter. The Eagle II program is intended to deliver 144 aircraft to replace aging F-15Cs, most of which are in the Air National Guard.

    The Trump Administration’s FY2020 budget proposal included a request for $1.1 billion to buy 8 F-15EX aircraft, the first procurement toward a planned...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/11/04/report-to-congress-on-f-15ex-eagle-ii-fighter

    SASC Defense Bill Requires Navy to Present Fleet Plan Directly to Congress

    Guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG-67) conducts carrier strike group integrated operations USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) on June 10, 2021. US Navy Photo

    The Senate Armed Services Committee has crafted legislation to give the Navy more ownership over its fleet architecture studies, according to the text of the annual defense policy bill released this week.

    Language in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act would require the chief of naval operations to present a force structure...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/09/23/sasc-defense-bill-requires-navy-to-present-fleet-plan-directly-to-congress

    Pentagon, Navy Conducting Parallel Fleet Studies Ahead of Next National Defense Strategy

    Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding on June 5, 2021. HII Photo

    The Navy and the Pentagon are crunching numbers on two separate sets of studies that will map out the size of the service’s future fleet as defense budgets are set to stay static for the foreseeable future, officials familiar with the studies told USNI News.

    The Navy is performing its own assessment of the fleet architecture needed to counter future threats past the...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/09/21/pentagon-navy-conducting-parallel-fleet-studies-ahead-of-next-national-defense-strategy

    Navy Questions Future Viability of Super Hornets; Recommends Against New Buy

    F/A-18F Super Hornets, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, fly over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) in the Atlantic Ocean, May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo

    NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — If Congress mandates the Navy keep buying the current F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the airframes will be in the fleet into the 2050s. But by then, the fourth-generation fighters likely couldn’t stand up to future threats, a service official said Tuesday.

    Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, who leads the chief of...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/08/03/navy-questions-future-viability-of-super-hornets-recommends-against-new-buy

    Pentagon Reissues FY 22 Shipbuilding Totals to Congress In Lieu of 30-Year Plan   

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

    The Pentagon submitted an abbreviated long-range shipbuilding report to Congress that does not show construction past the Fiscal Year 2022 budget request, according to the document reviewed by USNI News on Thursday.

    Instead, the Navy issued a summary of the eight-ship FY 2022 shipbuilding request, with a promise for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the service to further refine the needs of the Navy for a complete outlook as part of the...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/06/17/pentagon-reissues-fy-22-shipbuilding-totals-to-congress-in-lieu-of-30-year-plan

    Interview: Elaine Luria Says Navy Needs to Build ‘Battle Force 2025’ Instead of Divesting to Prepare for a 2045 Fight

    Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61) transits the Mediterranean Sea on March 24, 2021. US Navy Photo

    The vice-chair of the House Armed Services Committee does not support the Navy’s “divest to invest” strategy of ridding the fleet of aging and expensive-to-maintain ships and systems to free up money for the development of unmanned platforms and other new technology, saying the sea service needs to focus on getting ready for a near-term battle instead of looking too far...

    https://news.usni.org/2021/05/05/interview-elaine-luria-says-navy-needs-to-build-battle-force-2025-instead-of-divesting-to-prepare-for-a-2045-fight

    Status Report: Navy Unmanned Aerial, Subsurface Platforms

    The Navy wants to emphasize the development of enablers for unmanned systems – the common interfaces and control stations, the networks, the secure data formats, the autonomy behaviors – as it pursues a hybrid manned/unmanned fleet for the future.

    However, the platforms still matter – and most of the ones the Navy wants to leverage in the coming years are still in development.

    Several platforms were discussed during a recent House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee...

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