WASHINGTON: If the shutdown of the federal government could get more depressing today, it did. Senior House Republicans, clearly worried about angry constituents, began to press Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and — by extension — the Obama administration to end the furloughs of the 400,000 civilian defense workers. Rep. Buck McKeon, chair of the House… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: A bipartisan letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus argues that the Navy should reexamine the approach it’s taking to the stealthy carrier-based Unmanned Aerial System known as UCLASS. UCLASS letter fm Forbes to Sec. Mabus 9-17-2013 Reps. Randy Forbes and Mike McIntyre, the chairman and ranking members of the House Armed Services seapower and… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL:  Even the cameras stopped clicking in a hushed Armed Services hearing room today as Rep. Jim Cooper told the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his colleagues on the biggest committee in Congress today that America’s lawmakers had failed the country. “You gentlemen make life and death decisions in the Tank almost every day,”… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The United States Navy is negotiating to buy 10 nuclear submarines that it probably can’t pay for. But the service is going ahead regardless, counting on the Pentagon and Congress to make up the money as long as the budget cuts known as sequestration continue. The sequester doesn’t mean the Navy can’t afford… Keep reading →

[UPDATED]: WASHINGTON: Tomorrow is a big day for Navy submarines on Capitol Hill. A hearing of the House Armed Services seapower and projections forces subcommittee will focus on some of the knottiest issues in undersea warfare: – staying ahead of the Russians and Chinese. – getting extra funding for the Navy’s new ballistic missile submarine,… Keep reading →

  UPDATES WITH OBAMA WHITE HOUSE COMMENTS, HASC REACT TO KERRY REMARKS WASHINGTON: One hour before House Armed Services Committee members were to receive a White House briefing on last week’s Syrian massacre of more than 1,400 civilians, the White House released an unclassified summary of intelligence about the attack concluding with “high confidence” that… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Just when the Navy’s surface fleet had started pulling itself out of a 10-year, $2 billion hole, budget dysfunction may kick it right back in. We’ve written a great deal about the damage done to all four armed services by the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. But what is happening to the… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Bark, it turns out, does not necessarily correlate with bite. The Government Accountability Office is infamous for its often scathing reviews of Pentagon programs, and its latest report on the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship — one of GAO’s favorite targets — says Congress should “pause” LCS procurement until key systems are more adequately tested. But,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The recently retired senior admiral of the Navy, Adm. Gary Roughead, says the Obama administration must do much more across the government to ensure the Pacific pivot works and is well directed, joining his voice to four prominent House lawmakers. I asked Roughead after today’s hearing on the Pacific “rebalance” if he knew about… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Talk about timing. As Congress gears up to grill Navy officials on the much-criticized Littoral Combat Ship program, the fleet’s first LCS suffered yet another power outage that “briefly” shut down its engines near Singapore, where the USS Freedom recently deployed for its first foreign tour. [Click here for the Navy’s detailed official explanations].… Keep reading →