The U.S. Navy plans to purchase its first Future Surface Combatant ship in 2023 in support of its Arleigh Burke Flight III warship program, USNI News reported Tuesday. The combatant ship will integrate design elements from Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) and Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyer vessels, according to the report.
Read More »Senate Armed Services Panel OKs $716B Defense Budget for Fiscal 2019
The Senate Armed Services Committee passed on Thursday a bill that would authorize $617.6 billion in base budget for the Defense Department and $68.5 billion in overseas contingency operations funds for fiscal 2019, The Hill reported Thursday. The panel’s version of fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act would allocate $21.6 billion …
Read More »Report: US Launches Tomahawk, JASSM-ER Cruise Missiles to Target Syria’s Chemical Weapons Facilities
The U.S. collaborated with the U.K. and France to launch a series of missiles to zero in on facilities linked to Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons, The Drive reported Saturday. Dana White, a spokesperson for the Defense Department, said in a briefing the operation does not aim to overthrow Syrian …
Read More »Report: Navy Eyes Fleet Size Increase of 45 Ships Under 5-Year Plan
The U.S. Navy plans to increase its fleet size by 45 ships and aims to achieve a 31 percent rise in the number of deployed vessels in the next five years, USNI News reported Monday. The service would have a fleet of 326 ships by fiscal 2023 through its five-year …
Read More »Trump Proposes $686B for FY 2019 DoD Budget
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 would allocate $686 billion in funds for the Defense Department in support of the implementation of the National Defense Strategy and the White House’s National Security Strategy. DoD said Monday the budget request includes investments in combat aircraft, shipbuilding, ground systems, …
Read More »4-Week Stopgap Funding Bill Allocates $4B for Missile Defense Programs
President Donald Trump on Friday signed another continuing resolution to keep federal agencies operational through Jan. 19 at current spending levels, Military.com reported Friday. Trump approved the four-week government funding extension a day after Congress passed the measure to avert another government shutdown. The new CR provides $4 billion in …
Read More »Capt. Erik Etz: Navy Executed $1B in Training Systems Contracts in FY 2017
The U.S. Navy cleared more than 1,400 contracts for training platforms worth approximately $1 billion in fiscal year 2017 compared with approximately 1,200 contract actions executed in FY 2014, National Defense reported Thursday. The Naval Air Warfare Center’s training systems division has begun to field more commercial-off-the-shelf training platforms, Capt. …
Read More »Sen. Thad Cochran Proposes $650.7B Defense Spending Package
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R- Mississippi) has proposed a defense policy bill that would allocate $581.3 billion in base budget, $64.9 billion in overseas contingency operations funds and $4.5 billion in emergency missile defense funds for fiscal year 2018, Defense News reported Tuesday. Cochran on Tuesday introduced the draft …
Read More »Navy Investigates USS Fitzgerald Ship Collision Off Japan
The U.S. Navy has launched an investigation into the USS Fitzgerald guided missile destroyer’s collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship that occurred approximately 56 nautical miles off the coast of Honshu in Japan early Saturday. The impact caused significant damages to the Fitzgerald pilothouse and commanding officer’s cabin as well as flooded a …
Read More »Rear Adm. Hugh Wetherald Named Warfare Integration Director at CNO Office
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Hugh Wetherald, deputy director for resources and acquisition at the Joint Staff, has been appointed director of warfare integration at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley and CNO Adm. John Richardson announced Wetherald’s new assignment in a Defense Department news …
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