light amphibious warship

Marine Corps, Navy Remain Split Over Design, Number of Future Light Amphibious Warship, Divide Risks Stalling Program

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The Marine Corps and Navy remain at an impasse over the future of the Light Amphibious Warship, as skepticism about the program’s viability mounts due to the internal division, sources familiar with the program have told USNI News.

While the Marines remain committed to their plan for nearly three-dozen beachable ships that can ferry units between islands and shorelines in the Pacific, the Navy wants fewer. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s 2022 navigation...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/14/marine-corps-navy-remain-split-over-design-number-of-future-light-amphibious-warship-divide-risks-stalling-program

Senate FY 2023 Appropriations Bill Adds $4B to Navy Shipbuilding, Money for New Amphibs

The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed Huntington Ingalls Shipyard to conduct Acceptance Trials in the Gulf of Mexico. US Navy Photo

The Senate Appropriations Committee included advanced procurement dollars for two new amphibious warships as part of a $32 billion shipbuilding budget, according to the defense subcommittee’s Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill released on Thursday.

The FY 2023 bill shipbuilding and conversion portion appropriates $250 million in advanced procurement for...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/28/senate-fy-2023-appropriations-bill-adds-4b-to-navy-shipbuilding-money-for-new-amphibs

Eastern Shipbuilding Protests Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter Award to Austal USA

Heritage-class cutter under construction. Eastern Shipbuilding Group Photo

The shipyard first tapped to build what the Coast Guard considers its most important shipbuilding program is contesting the service’s decision to change yards with a formal protest to the Government Accountability Office, company officials told USNI News.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group filed the GAO protest following the late June $208.26 million award to Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., to build the future Heritage-class Offshore...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/21/eastern-shipbuilding-protests-coast-guard-offshore-patrol-cutter-award-to-austal-usa

New Navy Fleet Study Calls for 373 Ship Battle Force, Details are Classified

Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109), left, conducts a replenishment-at-sea with Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE-6), in the Ionian Sea on May 6, 2022. US Navy Photo

THE PENTAGON – The Navy quietly slipped a new, classified assessment on the number of ships the service needs to meet its missions around the world to Congress earlier this month. The report calls for a battle force of 373 ships – 75 more than in the current fleet.

Dubbed the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/19/new-navy-fleet-study-calls-for-373-ship-battle-force-details-are-classified

Coast Guard Issues Austal USA Contract Worth up to $3.3B for Offshore Patrol Cutter

An artist’s conception of Eastern Shipbuilding’s Offshore Patrol Cutter design.

The Coast Guard has issued Austal USA contract work up to $3.3 billion to build the service’s Offshore Patrol Cutter, the company announced on Thursday.While the initial award is for $208.26 million, the contract has options for as many as 11 OPCs that Austal will build at its Mobile, Ala., shipyard’s new steel production line.

“Austal USA will construct the OPC using its proven ship manufacturing processes and...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/01/coast-guard-issues-austal-usa-contract-worth-up-to-3-3b-for-offshore-patrol-cutter

HASC Seapower Mark Saves 5 Ships, Backs Marine Corps Call for 31 Amphibs

USS Vicksburg (CG-69) getting repaired at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Va., on April 8, 2022. Christopher P. Cavas Photo used with permission

The House Armed Services Committee will prevent the Navy from retiring five ships from the fleet and supports the Marine Corps’ call for 31 amphibious warships, according to a summary of the seapower and projection forces subcommittee’s mark of the House’s defense policy bill.

The measures in the mark, which reflect the consensus of the HASC, support a...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/07/hasc-seapower-mark-saves-5-ships-backs-marine-corps-call-for-31-amphibs

House Bill Backs Marines’ 31 Amphibious Ship Requirement, Over Navy’s 25 Ship Level

The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed Huntington Ingalls Shipyard to conduct Acceptance Trials in the Gulf of Mexico. US Navy Photo

Two members in Congress have heard the Marines’ call for more amphibious warships and issued a House bill that would cement their level at 31, according to language reviewed by USNI News.

Put forth by House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee chair Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and ranking member Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the bill...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/10/house-bill-backs-marines-31-amphibious-ship-requirement-over-navys-25-ship-level

Marines Couldn’t Meet Request to Surge to Europe Due to Strain on Amphibious Fleet

A landing craft, air cushion, attached to Assault Craft Unit 4, disembarks the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), during a Marine Expeditionary Unit off-load in support of a bilateral training event in Tromsø, Norway, April 12, 2022. US Navy Photo

As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, the head of U.S. European Command asked for a Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Ready Group to deploy early to Europe as a hedge against the conflict expanding.

But the Marine Corps...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/26/marines-couldnt-meet-request-to-surge-to-europe-due-to-strain-on-amphibious-fleet

Congress May Reject Navy’s Proposal to End LPD-17 Flight II Line, Lawmakers Say

USS San Diego (LPD-22) and USS Somerset (LPD-25) conduct routine operations in the eastern Pacific on April 7, 2020. US Navy Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Congress may reject the Navy’s proposal to end the San Antonio-class amphibious warship production line in the upcoming fiscal year, two lawmakers said today.

House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee chairman Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and ranking member Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said today that they think Congress will...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/04/congress-may-reject-navys-proposal-to-end-lpd-17-flight-ii-line-lawmakers-say

Navy and Marines Divided Over the Amphibious Fleet’s Future as Delays and Cancellations Mount in FY 2023 Budget Request

The future Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29) launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Mississippi. HII Photo

If the Marines could spend any more money as part of the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget, they’d ask to buy another amphibious warship.

Ranked higher than new F-35B and C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters or Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, the number one item on the Corps’ FY 2023 unfunded priority list to Congress is $250 million in advanced procurement funding for a new Flight II San...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/03/navy-and-marines-divided-over-the-amphibious-fleets-future-as-delays-and-cancellations-mount-in-fy-2023-budget-request

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