West 2022

Navy Raises Battle Force Goal to 381 Ships in Classified Report to Congress

Guided-missile destroyer Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. (DDG-124) in dry dock at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in June 2023. BIW Photo

The Navy is now more than 80 ships short of the latest estimate of what the sea service thinks it needs to fulfill the Biden administration’s national security strategy.

The Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirement, a congressionally-mandated report, requires 381 ships, up from 373 in the 2022 report, the first year it was released. As of Monday, the Navy’s battle...

https://news.usni.org/2023/07/18/navy-raises-battle-force-goal-to-381-ships-in-classified-report-to-congress

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 Weathering Cutter Production Delays as More Coasties Head to Sea

Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, speaks to attendees at the 2022 West conference in San Diego, Feb. 18, 2022. US Coast Guard Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The top Coast Guard officer remains optimistic at the pace of expanding the fleet of cutters despite delays in design and construction that have pushed back the expected delivery date of the first new polar icebreaker.

“We pushed the delivery date into the spring of 2025. We were hoping for a ’24 date,” Coast Guard Commandant...

With Authorities, Marine Lab Enlists Industry to Improve Naval Integration

Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) program a satellite communications terminal during Deployable Group Systems Integration Testing (DGSIT) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Jan. 27, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Marine Corps’ reshaping and retooling of its force with smaller units dispersed across islands and the littorals require reliable command and control systems and secured networks that work with both Marine Corps and Navy platforms,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/22/with-authorities-marine-lab-enlists-industry-to-improve-naval-integration

CNO Gilday: ‘We Need a Naval Force of Over 500 Ships’

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG-111), left, USS America (LHA-6), and Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), transit the Philippine Sea on Jan. 22, 2022. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The U.S. Navy needs a fleet of more than 500 ships to meet its commitments to the soon-to-be released National Defense Strategy, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Friday. 

“I’ve concluded – consistent with the analysis – that we need a naval force...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/18/cno-gilday-we-need-a-naval-force-of-over-500-ships

PACFLEET CO Paparo: U.S., Japan Joint Naval Operations Key to Pacific Security

Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, on Feb. 17, 2022. USNI News Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The military alliance with Japan is key to the U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific and is growing deeper as China expands regional influence, the head of U.S. Pacific Fleet said today.

Adm. Samuel Paparo said U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. 7th Fleet and III Marine Expeditionary Force are operating as a de facto joint task force with Japan.

“We’re seeing a more and more assertive Japan, who is rightly...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/17/pacfleet-co-paparo-u-s-japan-joint-naval-operations-key-to-pacific-security

Coast Guard Struggling with Southern California ‘Costal Awareness Gap’ as Maritime Smuggling Rises

A crew member from the Coast Guard Cutter Munro stands watch over seized contraband during a drug offload from the cutter in Alameda, California, March 23, 2021. US Coast Guard Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Grappling with a rise in maritime smuggling in recent years off Southern California, Coast Guard Sector San Diego officials have reached out to the tech industry for ideas and products that will close gaps in and expand maritime domain awareness.

“We’ve faced a major increase in smuggling,” Capt....

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/17/coast-guard-struggling-with-southern-california-costal-awareness-gap-as-maritime-smuggling-rises

Hill Closer to an FY 22 Budget Deal as Navy Warns Against More CRs; White House Sets Pentagon FY 23 Topline at More than $770B

NASA Photo

SAN DIEGO, CALIF., – Congressional appropriators are closer to cementing a deal that would finalize the belated Fiscal Year 2022 defense budget, three legislative sources confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday.

The sources said the deal for the Department of Defense FY 2022 appropriations bill would be in line with the $768 billion FY 2022 authorization bill signed by President Joe Biden in late December. The FY 2022 spending bill would be about $25 to 30 billion more than the initial...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/16/hill-closer-to-a-fy-22-budget-deal-as-navy-warns-against-more-crs-white-house-sets-pentagon-fy-23-topline-at-more-than-770b