Friday, April 19, 2024
Following concerns about escalating costs with the presidential helicopter recapitalization effort raised by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and seconded by President Obama yesterday, the lead contractor behind the effort today defended the program and backed current plans to review its future.
The Navy should officially end the DDG-1000 program, build a new frigate based on the Coast Guard's National Security Cutter and restructure the Littoral Combat Ship program to include more commonality between the two different designs, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS), the chairman of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee, said today.
Pentagon acquisition chief John Young continues to defend the Navy's DDG-1000 destroyer program, which the service announced plans to truncate last year, arguing that the decision lacks a proper "analytical foundation."
The Navy should re-evaluate plans to buy more DDG-51 guided-missile destroyers in place of the newer DDG-1000 hull as it moves forward with its fiscal year 2010 budget submission -- a move that could include funds for a new destroyer, dubbed the "Future Surface Combatant," according to Pentagon acquisition chief John Young.
Ray Mabus, a Navy veteran and former Mississippi governor who served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, has emerged as a frontrunner for the Navy secretary post in President Obama's administration, sources tell Inside the Navy.
The Pentagon's latest 39-page 2009 Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review, released yesterday, is notable for numerous reasons, including this oddity: It does not specifically mention the Navy or Marine Corps in the text.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter notified Congress yesterday that the VH-71 presidential helicopter program has breached a congressionally mandated cost threshold, giving the Obama administration the choice of paying billions more for the aircraft or killing the program outright.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate panel this morning that the Littoral Combat Ship, or a vessel like it, is "really needed" by the Navy as the service tries to reach a 313-ship fleet in the coming years.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff will meet with President Obama at the Pentagon next week, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told reporters this morning at a breakfast in Washington.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter will remain in his position until March 13 unless President-elect Barack Obama names his successor beforehand, Inside the Navy has learned.
The Navy today announced the creation of a maritime task force dedicated to combating piracy off the coast of East Africa.
The Government Accountability Office this week denied a protest by Raytheon contesting sole-source contracts to Lockheed Martin for Aegis modernization work on Navy surface combatants.
The Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program is slated for review by the Defense Acquisition Board early next month, which, if things go well, would allow the program to build seven new prototypes.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) sent a letter Monday to the incoming Obama administration urging the new president to strongly support "robust" shipbuilding priorities that will help the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard reach its objectives afloat.
ABOARD THE FREEDOM (LCS-1) IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY -- Pentagon acquisition czar John Young yesterday praised the first Lockheed Martin-built Littoral Combat Ship, but said continuing the competition between LCS builders General Dynamics and Lockheed is "vital" to providing the Navy with the best and most affordable capability.
Pentagon acquisition czar John Young today criticized the welds on the Northrop Grumman-built San Antonio (LPD-17), but said it remains to be seen if current problems with the ship lie with the builder or with the Navy.
The Navy should not opt to buy two expensive new command ships and should instead field the capability ashore, Pentagon acquisition chief John Young told reporters this morning.
The Navy has awarded Austal USA of Mobile, AL, a contract to build high-speed troop and equipment delivery ships, one day after news of the award was leaked by an Alabama senator.
MILWAUKEE, WI -- As the Navy commissioned its first Littoral Combat Ship here Saturday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said the 55-ship fleet of new, first-of-their-kind vessels is only a "floor" -- the minimum number the service needs in the future.
The first-of-class amphibious transport dock ship San Antonio (LPD-17) has hit another snag during its much anticipated first deployment.