Gerald Ford-class

Top Stories 2022: U.S. Navy Acquisition

The future USS Oregon (SSN-788) pierside at General Dynamics Electric Boat on Feb. 28, 2022. USNI News Photo

This post is part of a series looking back at the top naval stories from 2022.

This year saw the U.S. Navy moving down an acquisition path with more certainty than in 2021.

With the Biden administration embarking on its second budget cycle, the U.S. Navy released its first long-range shipbuilding plan in several years, providing more clarity to the industrial base on where the service is...

Great Wall of Naval Targets Discovered in Chinese Desert

H I Sutton Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

China has been honing its ship-killing skills for potential future conflicts on new targets in a remote desert, according to new satellite photos reviewed by USNI News. New analysis shows the People’s Liberation Army is testing the ability to hit ships in port with long-range ballistic missiles.

Since USNI News reported China has been building aircraft carrier targets in the Takmalakan Desert,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/11/great-wall-of-naval-targets-discovered-in-chinese-desert

Second U.S. Aircraft Carrier Missile Target Spotted in Chinese Desert

Target in the shape of a U.S. carrier in the Xinjiang region. Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

A second suspected missile target in the shape of a U.S. aircraft carrier has been spotted in a rural Chinese desert, according to satellite photos obtained by USNI News.

The site consists of a single aircraft carrier target, miles from the nearest town in the Xinjiang region, according to photos provided to USNI News by satellite imagery company Maxar. The carrier target is...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/09/second-u-s-aircraft-carrier-missile-target-spotted-in-chinese-desert

China ‘Clearly’ Developing Aviation and Maritime Capabilities to Counter U.S. in Indo-Pacific, Says Pentagon

A screenshot of DF-26 launching in China.

China continues to pursue both aviation and maritime capabilities to counter the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

Asked about China’s range targets that are shaped like U.S. warships, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby pointed to the Pentagon’s recent assessment of China’s military power.

“They can speak to their exercises and what they’re training against. It’s been pretty fairly obvious and we just released...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/08/china-clearly-developing-aviation-and-maritime-capabilities-to-counter-u-s-in-indo-pacific-says-pentagon

China Builds Missile Targets Shaped Like U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Destroyers in Remote Desert

An Oct. 20, 2021 satellite image of a target in the shape of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Tamaklan Desert in Central China. H I Sutton Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

The Chinese military has built targets in the shape of an American aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships in the Tamaklan desert as part of a new target range complex, according to photos provided to USNI News by satellite imagery company Maxar.

The full-scale outline of a...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/07/china-builds-missile-targets-shaped-like-u-s-aircraft-carrier-destroyers-in-remote-desert

HASC Chairman Sees Future for Aircraft Carriers, Questions Cost

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, Chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, is briefed on the capabilities of the F-35A Lightning II during his visit at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Oct. 10, 2019. The congressman learned about several aspects of the 56th Fighter Wing F-35 pilot training and how the wing works to enhance lethality and readiness. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jensen Stidham)

Questioning the $12 billion price tag of new aircraft carriers, the chairman of the House Armed Services...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/31/hasc-chairman-sees-future-for-aircraft-carriers-questions-cost

Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Maker Sees Support For 2nd Virginia-Class Attack Boat in FY 2021

Virginia-class submarine Washington (SSN-787) under construction in 2016 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Va. HII Photo

Support for adding a second Virginia-class fast attack submarine to the Fiscal Year 2021 budget is growing on Capitol Hill, according to executives from BWX Technologies, the maker of the Navy’s nuclear propulsion units.

The $2.7-billion second Virginia-class submarine tops the Navy’s $5.4-billion unfunded priorities list for FY 2021. When President Donald Trump submitted his FY...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/05/navys-nuclear-propulsion-maker-sees-support-for-2nd-virginia-class-attack-boat-in-fy-2021

Ford’s 5th Weapons Elevator Done With Testing; All 11 Should Be Done By Next Summer’s Shock Trials

Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding Division contractors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conduct phase 2 testing on a lower stage weapons elevator on Feb. 27, 2020. This testing marks another milestone in the certification of Gerald R. Ford’s Advanced Weapons Elevators. US Navy photo.

The Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding have finished building and testing the first lower elevator on aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and will soon announce...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/16/fords-5th-weapons-elevator-done-with-testing-all-11-should-be-done-by-next-summers-shock-trials

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