Tuesday, March 18, 2025
CHARLESTON, SC -- On a spring day in South Carolina, shipyard workers at HII's newly acquired facility here were laying the groundwork for submarine modules and putting the finishing touches on an initial aircraft carrier "structural unit" that will soon become part of future Ford-class aircraft carrier Doris Miller (CVN-81).
The lack of fiscal year 2025 spending legislation continues to undercut Marine Corps modernization efforts, according to Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, who listed aviation modernization efforts and the procurement of ship-killing missiles as priority areas at risk under Congress' current string of stopgap funding patches.
Contractors Saildrone and Palantir Technologies today announced the formation of a new strategic partnership intended to leverage artificial intelligence tools from the latter company for maritime domain awareness applications on the former’s autonomous platforms.
Federal civilian employees working in shipyard maintenance facilities and depots are exempt from the Trump administration's sweeping federal layoffs, a defense official told Inside Defense today.
Anduril Industries has received a $642 million contract to produce a new counter-drone system for the Marine Corps, capping off a competition to fulfill what service officials have described as an "urgent need" to better defend buildings, bases and other installations.
The Marine Corps is using a mobile air defense system to protect amphibious warships from drones and other aerial threats, according to a service spokesperson, who told Inside Defense the recently developed capability now deploys with each Marine Expeditionary Unit as part its Low Altitude Air Defense detachment.
As defense policy shifts under the Trump administration, the United States should remain committed to the submarine-focused AUKUS security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom as long as U.S. industry can build enough attack boats to meet domestic needs first, the nominee for a senior Pentagon post indicated this week.
The Marine Corps is preparing to release a draft request for proposals and host a June industry day at its Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, FL to discuss an upcoming need for logistics support for its strategic prepositioning program, according to a government notice posted yesterday.
The Trump administration is creating a new "office of shipbuilding" within the White House, President Trump announced last night during his address to Congress, saying the office will offer unspecified tax incentives intended to revitalize the United States shipbuilding industry.
The first prototype in the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program will begin a multimonth, at-sea testing period this spring after the vessel's construction concluded in February, according to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency notice.
The Air Force has begun implementing a deferred resignation program for its civilian workforce in accordance with directives from the Office of Personnel Management, the service announced over the weekend.
President Trump has nominated retired Navy captain and former Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao to serve as Navy under secretary.
Senate Democrats are worried the Pentagon’s plan to shrink its civilian workforce could further inhibit on-time ship and submarine maintenance if workers are laid off at the nation’s public shipyards.
John Phelan, President Trump’s nominee to serve as the next Navy secretary, told lawmakers today that if confirmed, he will personally review all existing contracts and renegotiate them if needed.
House Republicans are attempting to reassure members of the shipbuilding industrial base that robust investment will continue -- when it comes to submarine production at least -- amid uncertainty over the Trump administration's defense spending priorities.
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby is now performing the duties of the chief of naval operations after Adm. Lisa Franchetti was removed from the role on Friday night.
The Marine Corps will transition its Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessel program to the major capability acquisition pathway in fiscal year 2027 following a decision to terminate a middle tier acquisition rapid prototyping effort, according to the latest annual report from the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation.
The chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee are calling on the Defense Department to deliver a legally mandated spending plan for $500 million in submarine industrial base aid contributed by Australia.
The Marine Corps has begun fielding its Amphibious Combat Vehicle to the East Coast, completed the ACV's first overseas deployment and wrapped up contract negotiations over the program's upcoming 30mm cannon variant -- signs of progress in the service's effort to expand fielding of the critical amphibious platform.
Two recent Marine Expeditionary Unit deployments were both marked by amphibious warship readiness problems that, according to the units' commanders, challenged and complicated their missions in the increasingly tense Indo-Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean operating areas.