The size of the U.S. Navy’s fleet and the debate over how to increase it took center stage at a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
In particular, senators expressed concern after a recent study found multiple important shipbuilding programs are running years behind schedule.
The delays come “despite unprecedented support by Congress. Headlines and delays like this…
To expand the US Navy’s fleet, we must contract
April 18, 2024
There is no substitute for fleet capacity. But generating it depends on healthy partnerships between the government and industry. After decades of corporate consolidation, the pendulum now swings toward consensus that the U.S. defense-industrial base must once again…
The U.S. Army’s Network Cross-Functional Team is slated for a leadership shakeup.
Maj. Gen. Jeth Rey, the team’s director, will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Patrick Ellis, according to a personnel announcement shared by the Department of Defense. Rey has led the team at…
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s total cost is expected to top $2 trillion over its entire life span given the U.S. military plans to fly it longer, inflation is rising, and the Pentagon’s efforts to rein in expenses are largely falling short, a government watchdog said Monday.
That price tag represents an increase from the $1.7 trillion lifetime cost the Government Accountability Office…
Nearly a year prior to a deadline for two competing teams to reach a critical design review phase in the development of a Next-Generation Interceptor for homeland defense, the Missile Defense Agency chose Lockheed Martin to move forward rather than carry both teams through…
Get the US Navy’s frigate program back on schedule
April 16, 2024
The recent review of shipbuilding progress is an important step in correcting the current cost overruns and schedule slippage. However, the U.S. Navy secretary’s rather timid response of only directing the FFG design team to gather at the shipyard was far too timid.
Many…
Sea-Air-Space attendees step out of the naval conference in National Harbor, Maryland, to observe the solar eclipse April 8, 2024. (Colin Demarest/C4ISRNET)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — This week, U.S. Navy leadership and some of the world’s largest defense contractors flocked to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center south of the nation’s capital for the 2024 Sea-Air-Space defense…
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $4.1 billion to continue to field, maintain and upgrade its battle command system, according to an April 11 contract announcement from the Defense Department.
The contract period runs May 1…
For those of us who maintain detailed forecasts of the global defense market, there are few times as exciting as the annual release of the new Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) budget and the 30-year ship building plan. The long-range plan lays out the path that must be…
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Navy is using its effort to strengthen the weapons-industrial base as something of a test run for larger spending in the shipbuilding and submarine sectors, a top acquisition official said.
All three areas face similar challenges, such as a lack of output at key suppliers, which prevents prime contractors from increasing deliveries to the Navy.
The service would…
