Tuesday, May 13, 2025
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MOBILE, AL -- As production of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ships and Expeditionary Fast Transports nears completion, Austal USA is entering a transition period that sees the historically aluminum-focused shipbuilder beginning production of multiple steel vessels and positioning itself to become an essential piece of the submarine industrial base.
MOBILE, AL -- As production of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ships and Expeditionary Fast Transports nears completion, Austal USA is entering a transition period that sees the historically aluminum-focused shipbuilder beginning production of multiple steel vessels and positioning itself to become an essential piece of the submarine industrial base.
Earlier this year, the Navy officially selected its autonomy baseline manager, launching a new industry role tasked with creating a "baseline" of the commercially available and technically viable software and hardware for autonomous surface and undersea systems to help the Navy select and pair the best capabilities for its varying needs.
The Marine Corps is interested in procuring a commercially available, ground-based, long-range cruise missile system to fill operational capability gaps, according to a recent request for information.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro is asking for an $80 million "congressional add" to fund a developing at-sea re-arming capability, though the system has yet to complete an at-sea demonstration scheduled for this summer, a Navy spokesperson told Inside Defense.
The Senate Appropriations Committee's draft defense spending bill would increase shipbuilding spending by $3.4 billion but fund only one Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2025, teeing up a showdown between appropriators and authorizers over the future of the Virginia program.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory is preparing to lease a new stern landing vessel that will be "purpose-built from the ground up" by Australian shipbuilder Sea Transport Solutions (STS), a service spokesperson told Inside Defense.
General Dynamics' shipbuilding businesses have experienced improved hiring and reduced attrition over the past year, company executives reported today, saying they are beginning to see momentum build as their shipyards work to meet the Navy's production and maintenance demands.
The Navy successfully launched Korean-made guided munitions from an unmanned surface vessel during a July 12 live-fire demonstration that occurred off the coast of Hawaii as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024 exercise.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro today announced the official start of the new Michigan Maritime Manufacturing Initiative -- a shipbuilding jobs program that aims to build a training pipeline to staff thousands of defense industry jobs across the state of Michigan and the larger Great Lakes region.
House appropriators want an assessment of the ability of public shipyards to support wartime battle damage, according to a provision within the House Appropriations Committee's military construction spending bill directing the Navy to deliver a report on the issue within 180 days of the legislation's passage.
The Marine Corps is exploring the possibility of bringing an additional contractor into the Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle program, according to a July 15 request for information seeking companies capable of developing, building and delivering a vehicle satisfying ULTV program requirements.
The Defense Department has awarded Deloitte Consulting a contract worth as much as $2.4 billion over five years to bolster the submarine industrial base and improve production to a sustained rate of one Columbia- and two Virginia-class boats per year, according to a Monday notice.
Two Connecticut House members have launched a new "maritime workforce campaign" in conjunction with the Navy and industry that aims to attract workers to the shipbuilding industry and improve submarine output, according to a Tuesday announcement from House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-CT).
The Marine Corps is looking for lightweight, "dismounted" air defense systems to detect, track and neutralize small drones, according to a July 15 request for information that indicates industry feedback will inform an emerging urgent requirement.
Shipbuilder Austal USA broke ground this week on a new final steel assembly facility at its Mobile, AL yard that is scheduled to be complete and fully operational by the summer of 2026, according to a July 9 company announcement.
The Navy is preparing to award Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace a five-year, multiyear procurement contract for the Naval Strike Missile in August, after receiving authority and funding from Congress' fiscal year 2024 defense legislation, a Navy spokesperson told Inside Defense.
The Senate version of the fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill directs the Navy to invest in developing "dual-modality" autonomous systems, authorizing an $18 million addition to the service's research and development budget to experiment with up to seven uncrewed vehicles.
Senate authorizers aim to raise shipbuilding design maturity standards with their version of the fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill, which would fence procurement funding for the Navy’s Landing Ship Medium and Constellation-class frigate until ship designs satisfy heightened maturity requirements.
The Marine Corps is conducting market research for its developing Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle ahead of an upcoming engineering and manufacturing development competition that will include three ARV mission-role variants, according to a July 3 request for information.