Everyone’s scared of sequestration. But the US Navy and its shipbuilders are particularly upset by the prospect, because both the large-scale nature of naval construction and a historic quirk of the appropriations process leave warships particularly vulnerable. That’s why the Navy League of the United States, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential advocacy… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD [updated 7:30 am Thursday 19 April with Congressional comment and Raymond Pritchett’s retraction] : The smartest man in the Department of the Navy, Under Secretary Robert O. Work, erupted today in a passionate defense of the service’s integrity in how it counts its ships and of the controversial Littoral Combat Ship‘s place… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Trucks, not sports cars – that’s the Chief of Naval Operations’ vision for an affordable and upgradeable future fleet. And that’s good news for an array of programs, from the controversial Littoral Combat Ship, to the LPD-17 amphibious ship, to a Marine Corps initiative called Harvest Hawk that straps missiles to a… Keep reading →

This is going to hurt. That’s the grim message to defense contractors and federal workers alike from top acquisitions brass in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard who convened at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference this morning to discuss the new “era of austerity.” Pressure to cut costs coming from the highest levels, as… Keep reading →

While the Marines are famous for amphibious landings, they depend on Army assets (shown here) for large-scale logistics. Going back to the future ain’t easy. After a decade largely spent waging land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. Marine Corps wants to reemphasize large-scale amphibious operations, like its recent “Bold Alligator” exercise. But to… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The new 285-ship fleet the Navy plans in its fiscal 2013 budget plan may change, pending the results of a new service-wide force structure review, the Navy’s top officer said today. The review, expected to wrap up within weeks, will outline how many hulls the Navy will need to meet the national security… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: With the Navy’s fleet set to shrink over the next decade, service leaders are pushing hard to keep what ships they have left combat ready. With the sea service to take on the large share of the Pentagon’s Western Pacific strategy, the Navy is looking to push every ready hull out to sea. But… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: In the military, you can’t always get what you want but you can usually get what you need. And looming budget cuts are forcing the Marine Corps to do just that with its future amphibious fleet, according to a top service general. Neither the Marines nor the Navy have backed off the Corps’ requirement… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s strategy to modernize its amphibious fleet will leave the Marine Corps shorthanded despite plans to buy 20 new ships over the next few decades, a Congressional Budget Office report claims. The Navy will hit its goal of 33 amphibious ships under the plan but will not reach the 38-ship fleet the Marines… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy, like the rest of the services and the Pentagon, is adamant that all options are on the table when it comes to trimming the service’s bottom line. But from aircraft carriers to overall force structure cuts, details on those options coming from the Navy have been sparse. And in recent weeks, it… Keep reading →