Fiscal Year 2022

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

HASC Adopts Amendment That Would Authorize 4 More Battleforce Ships, Increase DoD Topline to $23.9B

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

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday adopted an amendment that would authorize four additional battleforce ships for the Navy and increase the overall Defense Department topline by $23.9 billion.

The amendment, offered by HASC Ranking Member Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), authorizes funding for a third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, one America-class amphibious...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/01/hasc-adopts-amendment-that-would-authorize-4-more-battleforce-ships-increase-dod-topline-to-23-9b

Lawmaker Calls for New U.S. Maritime Strategy with Pacific Focus

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 18, 2020. US Navy Photo

To counter threats from China, a top U.S. lawmaker Friday called on the U.S. Navy to develop a new maritime strategy that would rebalance how it deploys and strategically scattered persistent deterrent force in an arc throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

Two decades of focus on the Middle East has strained U.S. naval forces and worn out its fleet of carriers, said U.S. Rep Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a retired...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/30/lawmaker-calls-for-new-u-s-maritime-strategy-with-pacific-focus

$715B FY22 Defense Budget Cuts $2.8B in ‘Legacy’ Systems, Reduces Troop Strength

The guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68) transits the Atlantic Ocean alongside aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), not pictured, on July 4, 2016. US Navy photo

THE PENTAGON – The Defense Department is making cuts to legacy ships and aircraft across the Navy and Air Force and reducing end strength across the force as part of its Fiscal Year 2022 budget, the department announced on Friday.

The $715 billion outlay – largely flat after inflation compared to FY 21 – cuts $2.8 billion in...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/28/715b-fy22-defense-budget-cuts-2-8b-in-legacy-systems-reduces-troop-strength

CNO, Commandant: Services Have A Good Idea of How They’ll Fight, If Congress Helps Them With the Right Spending Plans

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Tyrell Lewis, a student in the Detachment Hawaii Enhanced Squad Leader Course, aims a dummy rocket launcher at the rocket station, one of twelve stations in the initial performance assessment portion of the course, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, April 8, 2021. The course is an experimental proof of concept, with the intent of modernizing training and providing squad leaders with new capabilities. US Marine Corps photo.

The chief of naval operations and commandant of the Marine...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/13/cno-commandant-services-have-a-good-idea-of-how-theyll-fight-if-congress-helps-them-with-the-right-spending-plans

Wittman: Navy Needs Money in its Budget for Modernization, But Not From Cutting Cruisers

Guided-missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) was inducted into the Cruiser Modernization program on Oct. 3, 2019. US Navy Photo

The Navy is facing pressure to find savings within its own budget to pay for investments in future technologies like unmanned vehicles and hypersonic and directed energy weapons – but those savings shouldn’t come from the early decommissioning of cruisers and amphibious ships, a key lawmaker said today.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the top Republican on the House Armed...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/12/wittman-navy-needs-money-in-its-budget-for-modernization-but-not-from-cutting-cruisers

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

CNO: Pentagon Force Posture Review Will Inform Future Carrier Missions, Arctic Presence

USS Toledo (SSN-769) surfaces at Ice Camp Seadragon on the Arctic Ocean for Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2020. US Navy Photo

The chief of naval operations said an ongoing Global Force Posture Review led by the defense secretary could bring about changes to how aircraft carriers and other in-demand naval assets should be deployed around the world in the future, as one deployed carrier strike group that trained for a range of new missions is now in the Middle East conducting the same old missions of land...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/05/cno-pentagon-force-posture-review-will-inform-future-carrier-missions-arctic-presence

Navy ‘Struggling’ to Modernize Aging Cruiser Fleet As Tight Budgets Push Pentagon to Shed Legacy Platforms

Guided-missile cruiser USS Hué City (CG-66) was inducted into the Cruiser Modernization program on Oct. 3, 2019. US Navy Photo

A plan to keep the Navy’s guided-missile cruiser fleet operating through the end of the 2030s is struggling as the ships show there’s a very real cost in time and money to keep old platforms around for the sake of having a larger fleet.

The Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers pack a punch with their 122 vertical launching system cells packed with guided missiles, but today...

+ More