DefenseNews

Italy forgoes $14 billion deficit spending on defense amid wobbling economy

ROME — The Italian government is giving up a chance to grab an extra €12 billion ($14 billion) in defense spending as it shifts its focus to keeping energy bills down ahead of national elections next year. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been toying with the idea of triggering a European Union scheme to exempt a quantity of defense spending from calculations of annual deficit spending to…
Read more
DefenseNews

US Navy is reviewing cost of future Ford-class carriers to ensure they ‘make sense’

Recently ousted Navy Secretary John Phelan told reporters Tuesday that the service is analyzing the cost and design of two aircraft carriers it is set to procure in the coming years. Phelan, who left his position as the civilian leader of the U.S. Navy on Wednesday shortly after delivering remarks to the media at the Sea-Air-Space symposium in Washington, said the service was looking at the future…
Read more
DefenseNews

John Phelan out as Navy secretary, Pentagon says

John Phelan is out as the secretary of the Navy, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. Phelan, who this week attended the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space symposium in Washington, is departing the role “effective immediately,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced. U.S. Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, a former Virginia Senate candidate and special operations veteran, will assume the…
Read more
DefenseNews

US Navy unmanned surface vessel fleet to grow sevenfold in Indo-Pacific

The U.S. medium-sized unmanned service vessels fleet could jump from roughly four to 30 vessels by 2030 in the Indo-Pacific, according to officials. As of now, the U.S. has at least four medium-sized unmanned service vessels that previously completed deployments in the region. In just four years, that amount could be approximately seven times larger, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Garrett Miller.
Read more