EXCLUSIVE: How the Navy’s chief engineer sees 3D printing rebuilding the fleet
The proliferation of 3D printers, combined with loosened rules on using them, could change the way the Navy fixes its ships at sea, a top officer tells Breaking Defense.
Navy attack sub Alexandria gets 3-year life extension, Scranton next on the list
The Alexandria's service life was extended by three years through September 2025, a service official told Breaking Defense.
Navy begins long haul to inactivate second nuclear-powered carrier Nimitz
Meanwhile, the decommissioned Enterprise remains at Newport News Shipbuilding awaiting its final disposal.
Navy cancels ‘Snakehead’ large undersea drone competition after decade of development
The Navy may be left with a large gap in its family of UUVs at a time the service leaders say they are ready to integrate the technology more deeply into the fleet.
Navy’s large undersea drone may resume testing, but future’s unclear for industry competition
The LDUUV program, dubbed Snakehead, has had a wild ride for the past year between Navy proposals to ditch and resurfacing congressional funding.
HII gets Navy’s green light to expand use of 3D printed parts in shipyards
An HII executive told Breaking Defense the NAVSEA certification will open the door for other alloys to be approved for use.
Austal Or Lockheed Gets 3rd LCS In 2017? Navy Says There IS A Plan…
Austal’s Alabama shipyard just got the first Littoral Combat Ship contract of 2017, an award of up to $548 million to build an Independence-class all-aluminum trimaran, the as-yet unnamed LCS-28. Lockheed Martin, which builds the steel-hulled Freedom-class LCS with Wisconsin shipyard Marinette Marine, is still in negotiations with the government, a Lockheed spokesman told me. […]
More Maintenance $$ Gets Navy To 355 Ships Sooner: NAVSEA
WASHINGTON: More money for maintenance would allow Navy ships to stay in service longer, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command said today, and accelerate the fleet’s growth to the Trump Administration’s avowed goal of 355 ships by “10 to 15 years with a relatively small investment.” The Navy’s current long-term plan assumes most warships […]
Carrier Ford Sails This Week; Future Destroyer Proposals In 2020
NATIONAL HARBOR: The long-delayed supercarrier Gerald Ford should set sail for builders’ trials this week, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command said today. If those builders’ trials and subsequent Navy acceptance trials go well, Vice Adm. Thomas Moore told reporters at the Sea-Air-Space conference here, “I think we’ll get the ship delivered in the […]
Stealth Destroyer DDG-1000’s Biggest Trials Lie Ahead
WASHINGTON: As shipbuilder Bath Iron Works laid the keel for the third and final destroyer of the DDG-1000 class, the Navy and industry were struggling to understand embarrassing breakdowns on the first ship, the USS Zumwalt. Congress fears there could be worse to come. “The hard work hasn’t really begun yet in terms of delivering the […]
Build More Ships, But Not New Designs: CNO Richardson On McCain Plan
CLARIFIED w/ CNO response WASHINGTON: The Navy wants a 355-ship fleet. Can US shipyards build it? Yes, they can, the Navy leaders are insisting. But, the Chief of Naval Operations warned this morning, to keep production swift and steady, we should be careful about replacing existing designs — including the Littoral Combat Ship — with all-new warships […]
Fixing The Ford, Getting Creative With Carriers
This week, the Navy finally announced a delivery date for the long-delayed and $2.4 billion over-budget aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford (CVN-78). “In hindsight,” said Adm. Thomas Moore, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, the Navy should have tested the Ford’s ambitious new systems more extensively on shore before installing them aboard ship. But building a […]
Ford Getting Fixed, But No Delivery Date Yet: NAVSEA
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD: The USS Ford is getting back on track, said Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, though the head of Naval Sea Systems Command declined to give a new date for the long-delayed supercarrier to be delivered to the fleet. The Ford program is under review by the Pentagon’s procurement chief, Frank Kendall, and has […]
LCS Veteran Takes Helm Of Troubled Program: RADM John Neagley
UPDATED with insider comment WASHINGTON: Rear Adm. John Neagley helped write the requirements for the controversial Littoral Combat Ship some 13 years ago. Now Neagley, who’ll pin on his second star, is returning to LCS as Program Executive Officer at a particularly troubled time. LCS is still trying to right itself after one defense secretary overhauled the […]