Secretary of Defense Mark Esper

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

Acting SECNAV: Navy Shipbuilding Faces Review from Incoming Biden Officials

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.

As the Biden administration continues filling key positions, its plans for the Navy should come into better focus, according to the service’s top civilian.

Speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association’s virtual...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/02/acting-secnav-navy-shipbuilding-faces-review-from-incoming-biden-officials

Top Stories 2020: International Naval Operations

Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.

Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/30/top-stories-2020-international-naval-operations

Top Stories 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic

Sailors prepare to man the rails as the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), returns to Yokosuka, Japan following a six-month underway period. US Navy Photo

This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic affected almost everything the Navy did in 2020, from the way the service deploys forces, to the way its contractors built ships and weapons, to the way sailors and officers were educated and...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/28/top-stories-2020-covid-19-pandemic

Top Stories 2020: U.S. Navy Acquisition

Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo

This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.

2020 may be among the most consequential years for Navy acquisition in recent memory, with the service making big moves in support of its Distributed Maritime Operations operating concept.

2020 was the year the Navy officially started construction on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program, a massive...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/25/top-stories-2020-u-s-navy-acquisition

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

CNO: Navy Will Have to Convince Biden Administration to Invest in Larger, Lethal Fleet

USS Sterett (DDG-104) steams through the night in the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 17, 2020. US Navy Photo

After it took the better part of nine months to convince Mark Esper’s Pentagon that the naval force needed greater investment to be ready to deter or defeat China and Russia – even if that investment came at the expense of the Army or the Air Force – the Navy and Marine Corps will have to start anew with the incoming Biden administration, the chief of naval operations said today.

The two sea...

https://news.usni.org/2020/12/03/cno-navy-will-have-to-convince-biden-administration-to-invest-in-larger-lethal-fleet

Navy Will Scrap USS Bonhomme Richard

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego on July 16, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy decided to scrap the amphibious assault ship that burned for nearly five days earlier this year, concluding after months of investigations that trying to rebuild and restore the ship would take too much money and too much industrial base capacity.

The July 12 fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) began in the lower vehicle storage area but ravaged the island, the mast and the flight...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/30/navy-will-scrap-uss-bonhomme-richard

Navy Confident It Could Build 3 Virginia SSNs a Year, Though More Study Needed On Shipyard Capacity

Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo

The Navy has “full confidence we can ramp up” to building three attack submarines per year if the Navy buildup proposed by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper were to be enacted, despite ongoing delays in Block IV Virginia-class construction, the program executive officer for submarines said today.

Esper’s Battle Force 2045 called for the Navy to reach 70 to 80 attack submarines, and he specifically ca...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/18/navy-confident-it-could-build-3-virginia-ssns-a-year-though-more-study-needed-on-shipyard-capacity

No Margin Left: Overworked Carrier Force Struggles to Maintain Deployments After Decades of Overuse

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) pier side in 2017. US Navy Photo

Navy aircraft carrier operations are up 40 percent this year over last year, even as the service has fewer available for tasking due to maintenance and acquisition challenges.

From January through Oct. 31, U.S. carriers had spent a combined total of 855 days at sea – 258 days more than all of 2019, according to a USNI News analysis of carrier deployments over the last five years.

That heavy carrier usage makes 2020 the busiest year for...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/12/no-margin-left-overworked-carrier-force-struggles-to-maintain-deployments-after-decades-of-overuse

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