Ohio-class submarine

Navy Finishes Seismic Repairs to Dry Dock 4 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) is docked for its Extended Refit Period May 11 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. U.S. Navy Photo

The Navy has finished seismic repairs to one of its Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility dry docks, the service announced late last week.
Ohio-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735) is now in Dry Dock 4 for a refit after the dry dock received a new certification, according to a news...

https://news.usni.org/2023/05/15/navy-finishes-seismic-repairs-to-dry-dock-4-at-puget-sound-naval-shipyard

Navy Could Extend Life of Five Ohio-class Ballistic Missile Boats to Hedge Against Columbia Program Delays

USS Alaska (SSBN-732) arrived at the Port of Gibraltar on June 28, 2021. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – Five of the Navy’s oldest submarines are candidates for a three-year life extension, service officials said on Tuesday.

The 18-month repair period would target the five Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines, or SSBNs, to support a requirement for the Navy to surge 10 boomers as a strategic nuclear contingency, program executive officer for strategic submarines Rear Adm. Scott Pappano...

https://news.usni.org/2022/11/01/navy-could-extend-life-of-five-ohio-class-ballistic-missile-boats-to-hedge-against-columbia-program-delays

Growing Work Force Largest Challenge to Columbia-Class Sub Programs, Says Navy Official

Artist’s rendering of the Columbia-class SSBN submarine. US Navy Image

Having the right work force is the biggest challenge affecting the Columbia-class ballistic submarine program’s ability to stay on schedule, the Navy’s senior officer in charge of strategic submarines said Wednesday.

Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, speaking at an Air Force Association Mitchell Institute event, said, “we need skilled trades feeding our industrial base.”

He added it was important that the two submarine shipbuilders...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/25/growing-work-force-largest-challenge-to-columbia-class-sub-programs-says-navy-official

Senate Appropriators Call for GAO Probe into Navy’s Budget Tactic to ‘Deliberately Underfund Programs’

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

Senate appropriators are worried about the Navy’s budget tactics and are calling upon the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study to address their concerns.

The Senate Appropriations Committee wants the comptroller general, which leads the GAO, to assess the procedures both the Navy and the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) use when...

https://news.usni.org/2021/10/20/senate-appropriators-call-for-gao-probe-into-navys-budget-tactic-to-deliberately-underfund-programs

House Passes Defense Authorization Bill With $23.9B Topline Increase, 13 Battleforce Ships

NASA Photo

The House on Thursday passed the annual defense policy bill with a $23.9 billion increase to the defense top line and a significant boost to the Navy’s shipbuilding account.

In a 316-113 vote Thursday evening, the lower chamber passed the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing a total of $768 billion for defense spending. Despite Democrats’ efforts to cut defense spending, including an attempt to reverse the $23.9 billion increase the House Armed Services...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/24/house-passes-defense-authorization-bill-with-23-9b-topline-increase-13-battleforce-ships

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

HASC Chairman’s Mark Adds 12 Navy Super Hornets, Preserves Navy Nuclear Cruise Missile Funds

Three U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets operating from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on June 8, 2020. US Navy Photo

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is preserving money to develop a new surface-launched nuclear cruise missile, and is adding 12 Super Hornets and a second guided-missile destroyer to the Navy’s shipbuilding plan, according to a copy of the chairman’s mark for the Fiscal Year 2022...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/25/hasc-chairmans-mark-adds-12-navy-super-hornets-preserves-navy-nuclear-cruise-missile-funds

HASC Readiness Mark Wants to Save INSURV Reports; TACAIR Panel Cautious of Navy’s Strike Fighter Plans

Sailors assigned to Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 11 sail through San Diego Bay aboard 34-foot Sea Ark patrol boat as part of sea trials during Maritime Expeditionary Security Group (MESG) 1’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) on July 20, 2021. US Navy Photo

The House Armed Services Committee readiness subcommittee wants to make sure the independent report on the health of the Navy’s fleet continues in perpetuity.

The panel’s mark of the Fiscal Year 2022 defense policy...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/28/hasc-readiness-mark-wants-to-save-insurv-reports-tacair-panel-cautious-of-navys-strike-fighter-plans

+ More