Rollout of the mine countermeasures mission package on the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship remains on track for later this fiscal year, a Navy official confirmed this week.
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Abby Shepherd is a Navy reporter. Before joining Inside Defense in November 2023, she was an intern with Politico's E&E News and a city government reporter with the Eudora Times in Kansas. She graduated from the University of Kansas in May 2023, with degrees in journalism and political science.
Rollout of the mine countermeasures mission package on the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship remains on track for later this fiscal year, a Navy official confirmed this week.
The Navy has employed a new planning strategy to reduce time spent on ship maintenance availabilities across the fleet, a service official said Thursday.
Countering unmanned aircraft systems is part of a "layered defense," and something that could prove useful in operations like those in the Red Sea, a Navy official said Thursday.
The Navy intends to use multiyear contracts for future Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, as was done in past negotiations with the most recent contract in 2023, which awarded three Flight III destroyers to General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works and six to HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding.
After lessons learned within GPS-denied spaces, the Navy's task group on unmanned operations -- formed last January out of Central Command's Task Force 59 -- plans to launch an unmanned surface vessel with GPS-denied capability.
As China and Russia strengthen their naval relationship and increase joint patrols, training and port visits in the Pacific, the existing model for force generation -- the Optimized Fleet Response Plan -- is no longer optimal amid the existential threat posed by these two countries, U.S. Fleet Forces Commander Adm. Daryl Caudle said Wednesday.
The Navy should streamline its uncrewed surface vessels, Surface Warfare Director Rear Adm. Bill Daly said Tuesday at the Surface Navy Association's conference, adding that the hybrid fleet does not necessarily need platforms that are large, exquisite or unproved.
A new low-cost, rapidly deployable family of autonomous surface vessels from defense contractor Textron is currently in "high production" and is ready for the Defense Department and its allies, according to a company news release, although the Navy has not yet awarded a contract.
The Navy has declared initial operational capability for the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band system -- a jump in capability following problems with system immaturity that were noted by the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation last year.
Total shipbuilding costs for the Navy over the next 30 years could average $40 billion -- 17% more than the service estimated -- largely due to cost growth among various programs, the Congressional Budget Office found.
The Navy has approved a new acquisition program baseline for its Advanced Arresting Gear program, following a significant Nunn-McCurdy cost breach and overruns due to necessary program updates.
Naval Air Systems Command has directed the inspection of each V-22 Osprey’s Proprotor Gearbox -- the critical part of machinery linked to a series of crashes in recent years -- to verify its current flight hours before each aircraft’s next flight, according to a Navy statement today.
Lawmakers unveiled legislation today aiming to revitalize the United States shipbuilding and maritime industries through several key efforts, including the establishment of a new position within the White House to direct national maritime security policy.
The Navy has awarded over $3.4 billion to Northrop Grumman for the engineering and manufacturing development of the E-130J, the Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission aircraft, according to a contract announcement Wednesday.
Comprehensive reform is needed in the shipbuilding industry on all fronts, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters today, hours before the Senate voted 85-14 to approve increased submarine program funding in the compromise fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill.
Amid budget negotiations and the upcoming presidential transition, the future of the Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine program is critical, a Navy official said Monday.
After lawmakers noted concern with a "lack of transparency" from the Navy on submarine program challenges and solutions, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro assured reporters today that open communication between the service and Congress remains a top priority.
The Navy intends to expand its partnerships with industry to bolster unmanned aircraft capabilities, with Naval Air Systems Command planning an industry day to present current capabilities in the area, according to a Monday government notice.
House and Senate authorizers have agreed to use incremental funding to enter a contract for the construction of a new USS Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, according to the joint fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill, which approves $895 billion for national defense priorities.
Following a recent precautionary landing of a CV-22 Osprey aircraft, all V-22 variants are operationally paused as of Dec. 6, Naval Air Systems Command told Inside Defense today.