The revelation, made by the Air Force Secretary during Congressional testimony, is the latest black eye for the tanker program.

The Trump Pentagon budget is “dead on arrival,” a top defense House Democrat says. And a Republican colleague rips budget gimmicks in the 2020 request.

The Navy is set to release plans to buy an extra fast-attack sub, another destroyer, and a handful of unmanned boats. Next step: Congress.

Two top congressmen joined Virginia’s Sen. Kaine in rejecting the Pentagon’s proposal to retire the USS Truman two decades early.

WASHINGTON: The Navy has discovered problems with the welds on 12 nuclear missile launch tubes, some for America’s $122.3 billion Columbia-class submarine program and others for the Royal Navy’s Dreadnought submarines. The issue is serious enough that Rep. Joe Courtney, top Democrat on the House seapower subcommittee, told me “the warning flags are up.” There is… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: In the drama-free weeks leading up to Thursday’s overwhelming passage of the compromise $716 billion defense policy bill by the House of Representatives, lawmakers sent a pretty clear signal to the White House: we want more submarines. With concerns rising over the growing prowess of Russian and Chinese undersea capabilities, and standoff air… Keep reading →

Wait — doesn’t this omnibus fund 14 new ships for the Navy, compared to 13 in the National Defense Authorization Act and just eight in President Trump’s request? Yes, but not all ships are created equal, Wittman said.

UPDATED from hearing and House vote WASHINGTON: The Navy is doing a good job addressing the problems revealed by last summer’s fatal collisions at sea, for example by filing criminal charges this week against officers involved, the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat of the House seapower subcommittee say. Now Congress needs to do its part and pass… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has asked legislators to repeal an obscure statute that he says hinders Navy readiness in the Pacific, where accidents this summer killed 17 sailors. Armed Services committee leaders seem receptive, but it’s the appropriators who’ll have to change the provision in question, which was written by their late, great chairman… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Is 13 the Navy’s lucky number? That’s how many ships the House Armed Service Committee wants to buy in 2018, five more than President Trump requested, the seapower subcommittee announced this afternoon. The problem: no one knows where the money’s coming from. The increase is part of a bipartisan push towards the 355-ship fleet… Keep reading →