Future Carrier 2030 Task Force

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

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

Pentagon Conducting ‘Relook’ of FY-22 Budget; Directive Targets Shipbuilding

In this aerial photograph, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) sits at Pier 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding division. The ship is approximately 76 percent complete and is progressing through final outfitting and testing. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.

The Pentagon is performing a “budget relook” of the Trump administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 proposal, with Navy shipbuilding topping the list of items for reassessment, USNI News has learned.

The directive, issued on Feb. 17, calls...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/24/pentagon-conducting-relook-of-fy-22-budget-directive-targets-shipbuilding

White House-led Navy Shipbuilding Plan Set to Will Push Boundaries of Pentagon Budgets, Industry Capacity

Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) on Oct. 21, 2020. US Navy Photo

According to the report, “maintaining our undersea advantage is a priority for the Navy. We are in the process of assuring the industrial base capability to continue delivering three SSNs per year past FY26 during Columbia serial production. The post-FYDP SSN profile will continue to be reviewed and updated in subsequent plans as the industrial base assessments are refined with the goal of...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/10/white-house-led-navy-shipbuilding-plan-set-to-will-push-boundaries-of-pentagon-budgets-industry-capacity

Esper Opens Door to Boosting Navy’s Shipbuilding Budget to Fund New Force Structure

Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks in the Pentagon Briefing Room, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 14, 2020. DoD Photo

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Defense Secretary Mark Esper is open to increasing Navy budgets to support a new shipbuilding plan and future force design, he said today in a speech at RAND Corporation’s Los Angeles office.

In a speech meant to outline how the Pentagon was continuing to implement the National Defense Strategy to restructure its capabilities and readiness to deter a war against...

Acting SECNAV McPherson Ends Navy Future Carrier Study; Nominee Braithwaite Gives Full Support to Ford Program

Sailors assigned to the air department aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) prepare to launch an F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to the Gladiators of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 during flight operations, March 29, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy’s secretary nominee has embraced a vision of the future naval fleet that is larger and includes new hull types in support of distributed maritime operations – but he also fully embraces the Ford-class aircraft carrier, in contrast to...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/12/acting-secnav-mcpherson-ends-navy-future-carrier-study-nominee-braithwaite-gives-full-support-to-ford-program

Modly: Parallel Fleet Studies Could Reshape Future of Aircraft Carriers

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) transits the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 14, 2019. US Navy Photo

THE PENTAGON – The Navy has taken several cracks over the years at trying to define a new future aircraft carrier, one that might be less expensive or less vulnerable.

But each time, the Navy has moved forward with the nuclear-powered supercarrier concept, in part because it provides an unmatched sortie-generation capability, and in part, because it’s built by a workforce that would be tough or impossible...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/12/modly-parallel-fleet-studies-could-reshape-future-of-aircraft-carriers

Navy Kicks Off Study of Next-Generation Carriers, Naval Aviation

An MH-60S Sea Hawk assigned to the Eightballers of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8 flies next to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) while they transit the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 15, 2020. US Navy photo.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly is commissioning a six-month study on the future of the aircraft carrier and carrier-based aviation, the Navy announced today.

This Blue-Ribbon Future Carrier 2030 (FC-2030) Task...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/09/navy-kicks-off-study-of-next-generation-carriers-naval-aviation