Virginia-class submarine

Hypersonic Weapons on Track to Deploy on Attack Submarines in 2028

Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is still on track to deploy hypersonic weapons on its attack submarines in 2028, a service official said Thursday.

While the first Zumwalt-class destroyer will get a hypersonic weapon in 2025, the first Virginia-class submarine will deploy with hypersonics in 2028, Strategic Systems Programs director Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe said today at the annual Naval...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/18/hypersonic-weapons-on-track-to-deploy-on-attack-submarines-in-2028

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

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

Six Littoral Combat Ships to Deploy by Year’s End as Navy Continues to Refine Operations

USS Charleston (LCS-18) arrives for a contactless port visit ahead of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka on June 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Navy will have six Littoral Combat Ships deployed by the end of the year – a record for the program, several Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News.

Later this year, two Independence-class LCS will join USS Tulsa (LCS-16) and USS Charleston (LCS-18) in the Western Pacific. The two ships kicked off an expansive deployment across...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/28/six-littoral-combat-ships-to-deploy-by-years-end-as-navy-continues-to-refine-operations

Sub Force Experimenting with Anti-Fatigue Measures to Mimic Natural Light

Participants in the ‘Using Personal Light Treatment Devices to Enhance Performance of Submariners’ study aboard the USS Vermont, wearing their assigned PLTDs. Officers in the blue light glasses (left, and third from left) are at the beginning of their shifts and officers in the orange (blue light blocking) glasses (second from left, right) are at the end of their shifts and are preparing to go to sleep. US Navy Photo

A group of Navy researchers is studying whether blue-blocking glasses or...

Lawmakers Question Navy’s Decision to Abandon Nuclear Cruise Missile

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley answer questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 10, 2021. DoD Photo

Pentagon leaders faced tough questions from lawmakers on the Navy’s decision to shelve the development of a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile during a Thursday budget hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Several Republican lawmakers voiced concerns about acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker’s plans to...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/10/lawmakers-question-navys-decision-to-abandon-nuclear-cruise-missile

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