The U.S. Navy is scheduled to start installing updates on the USS America amphibious assault ship to support the operations of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft aboard the vessel, The National Interest reported Wednesday.

British defense contractor BAE Systems said USS America will undergo a series of hull, mechanical and electrical repairs as well as receive additional modifications for F-35 integration.

The Navy previously upgraded USS America to align its weapons and sensors with F-35s as well as boost the flight deck’s capacity to handle F-35B vertical take-offs and landings.

The U.S. Marine Corps‘ F-35B short take-off and landing variant have gone through flight tests onboard USS America.

USS America is the lead ship of the America-class amphibious assault ships, which currently includes one other vessel named USS Tripoli.

Navy officials said America-class ships are designed to carry up to 31 aircraft in total, including the MV-22 Osprey, CH-53 Super Stallion, AH-1Z Super Cobra, UH-1Y Huey, F-35B and the MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter.

Rear Adm. Richard Snyder, director of strategy, policy and plans at the U.S. Northern Command, has been nominated as Department of the Navy inspector general and for promotion to the rank of vice admiral.

The more than three-decade Navy veteran currently leads Northrcom’s J5 directorate at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Snyder joined the service branch in late 1984 as a naval aviator and later served at North Island, California-based Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 43.

His assignments at sea included time as navigator of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and executive officer of the USS Bataan (LHD 5).

He also worked for the U.S. defense secretary as aviation liaison for public affairs and as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the U.S. and in the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group.

Before he took his current assignment, Snyder was director of the Navy’s 21st Century Sailor Office where he led resilience development efforts for U.S. sailors and their families.

The U.S. Navy has assigned Rear Adm. Brian Corey, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center’s weapons division, to serve as program executive officer for the service branch’s unmanned aviation and strike weapons.

This assignment entails Corey to perform his new duties in Patuxent River, Maryland, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Corey has served as assistant commander for test and evaluation at the Naval Air Systems Command in addition to his NAWCWD leadership role since Oct. 29, 2015.

Earlier in his military career, he was a naval fighter pilot for various operations including Desert Storm, Provide Hope, Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He also served as a requirements officer for the F/A-18 aircraft, and as a flight instructor for Training Air Wing 2.

The PEO for unmanned aviation and strike weapons oversees the development and procurement of air-to-ground strike weapons, unmanned aircraft systems and targeting supplements.

The U.S. Navy has asked Defense Secretary James Mattis to delay the shock testing of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier for at least six years in order to advance the deployment of a fleet of 11 carriers, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The Defense Department’s testing office warned that the Ford carrier should first undergo resilience test prior to fielding the ship for initial combat duty, which is expected in 2022.

Robert Behler, DoD’s new testing chief, said in an interview, the aircraft carrier has four new systems designed for aircraft landing and launching, aircraft and missile detection and ordnance movement.

“I think we have to know if those systems continue to work in a combat environment,” he added.

The service wants its second aircraft carrier – USS John F. Kennedy – that is set for delivery by September 2024 to undergo the shock trial instead of the Ford ship, the report added.

Navy Commander Patrick Evans, a spokesman for DoD, said Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, will directly respond to the military branch once he decides on the matter.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has urged Congress to authorize funds for the Defense Department to sustain military readiness efforts and carry out the National Defense Strategy in the field, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, told House Armed Services Committee members at a hearing Tuesday that the Budget Control Act and continuing resolutions have done more harm to military readiness than adversaries.

He called on legislators to eliminate defense spending caps as well as provide $700 billion in defense funds for fiscal year 2018 and authorize a $716 billion defense budget for FY 2019.

The House approved a continuing resolution that would allocate $659 billion in FY 2018 defense funds and maintain funding for civilian agencies at current levels through March 23.

Mattis added that a yearlong continuing resolution would prevent DoD from paying service members by the end of FY 2018; recruiting 15,000 soldiers and 4,000 airmen needed to fill manpower shortfalls; and conducting ship maintenance in a timely manner.

Continued budget uncertainty will also ground aircraft due to insufficient maintenance and spare parts; diminish ammunition, training and manpower required for combat operations; and postpone contract awards for modernization programs, Mattis noted.

The U.S. Navy has assembled a council tasked to oversee the implementation of reform efforts stemming from recommendations under submitted reports on past collision incidents.

Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly and Adm. William Moran, vice chief of naval operations, serve as co-chairs to the Readiness Reform and Oversight Council that was found Jan. 30, the Navy said Friday.

The council’s founding charter states the task to “provide continuity to see reforms and recommendations through to effective completion, and thereby guard against similar future trends and challenges that adversely impact the Department of the Navy’s Readiness.”

Reports such as the Strategic Readiness Review and Comprehensive Review of Surface Force Incidents will be used as basis for the reform efforts that the council will supervise.

The Comprehensive Review of Surface Force Incidents consists of insights deducting the causes that led to ship collisions such as the one between USS Fitzgerald and Motor Vessel ACX Crystali.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has said the National Defense Strategy was instrumental in the development of the Pentagon’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

“Tomorrow morning about nine o’clock eastern standard time, I’ll be sitting with the chairman and the secretary, signing off the implementation guidance that goes along with this (budget),” Shanahan said Tuesday at the AFCEA-USNI WEST conference in San Diego, California.

“We’re going to deliver the budget on time (with) Defense Planning Guidance (and) financial guidance,” he added.

He noted that the department tackled every area of the budget request in support of the strategy.

Shanahan told reporters the strategy seeks to introduce reforms to the U.S. military’s force deployment efforts and DoD’s cybersecurity standards.

DoD issued in January the National Defense Strategy that aims to address the “re-emergence of long-term strategic competition” and expand the competitive space through three lines of effort.