The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday shifted some funds intended to plus up destroyer modernization to developing undersea warfare solutions.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday shifted some funds intended to plus up destroyer modernization to developing undersea warfare solutions.
The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee is moving forward with a plan to further restrict the term of planned cruiser availabilities, rejecting concerns expressed by the chief of naval operations and an influential Democrat on the panel that the new approach to phased modernization will delay the upgrades and eliminate cost savings.
Lawmakers are looking to continue production of Raytheon's Joint Standoff Weapon despite the Navy's decision to terminate the line and the resulting critical cost breach.
The House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee recommends reducing the term of planned cruiser availabilities from four years to two years, further limiting the Navy's phased modernization plan.
The House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee is recommending accelerating procurement of the Navy's next-generation amphibious warship by two years, with an eye toward beginning construction in fiscal year 2018 instead of FY-20.
Navy officials last week previewed an acquisition framework for the modified Littoral Combat Ship that is due to the defense secretary May 1, a document that appears to fall far short of the mandate the Pentagon sketched out late last year.
The Navy late last month briefed Congress on the path ahead for implementing a long-term, phased modernization plan for the service's cruiser fleet.
In an information paper sent to Congress last month, the Navy made clear it is struggling to meet the fleet's growing need for ballistic missile defense, citing a sharp increase in demand of up to 77 BMD-capable ships in fiscal year 2016.
The Navy will fire the electromagnetic railgun for the first time at sea from the fifth Joint High Speed Vessel, the Trenton, in a demonstration next summer, according to the program manager.
The House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee in its upcoming mark of the fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill will include language to prohibit the Navy from stripping five Ticonderoga-class cruisers of their ballistic missile defense capability until the service can certify that the fleet can meet the growing need, the subcommittee chairman told Inside the Navy last week.
Raytheon and Norway's Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace are teaming up on the Naval Strike Missile, with an eye toward eventually fielding the weapon from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, company officials said.
The Navy plans to strip four Ticonderoga-class cruisers of their ballistic missile defense capability during a long-term, phased modernization of half the fleet, leaving all of these ships without the ability to defend against ballistic missile threats.
The Navy this week awarded Austal USA $691 million for two Littoral Combat Ships, while competitor Lockheed Martin received $362 million for one ship plus $79 million in advanced procurement funding for a second ship next year.
The Navy and the Air Force may team up on a joint analysis of alternatives to examine options for the service's next-generation fighter jet, according to a top official.
The Navy has submitted a final notification to Congress of its decision to terminate Joint Standoff Weapon production, following the proposal last month in the service's fiscal year 2016 budget submission to truncate the line.
As the Navy's Joint Standoff Weapon triggers a "critical" Nunn-McCurdy cost breach due to the service's decision to terminate production after this fiscal year, JSOW producer Raytheon is in talks with the Pentagon and Capitol Hill about maintaining the line.
The Navy is eying an award of the primary construction contract for the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy to the shipbuilder in May, according to the program executive officer.
Program costs for the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer program increased by 4.6 percent, or about $4,303.3 million, to $98,327.5 million overall, according to the Defense Department's latest Selected Acquisition Report.
The Navy is accelerating planned procurement of follow-on vessels to a new class of amphibious warship to align with the retirement of legacy dock landing ships, according to top service officials.
The future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy will trade its planned Dual Band Radar for a cheaper, less-capable Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, a move that will save the program about $180 million, according to the program executive officer.