ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s procurement and congressional funding of two Ford-class aircraft carriers in a single block buy enabled numerous small suppliers to weather or even survive the COVID pandemic, an industry official said. The stability of the program…
SASC Chair Reed: Defense Budget Turmoil Fault ‘Not in Our Stars, But in Ourselves’
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee quoted Shakespeare to lay the blame on Congress itself for the defense budget legislative turmoil over the last two decades of multiple continuing resolutions, and said budget delays are especially…
DoD Inspector General to Audit Navy’s MQ-25 UAV Program
ARLINGTON, Va. — The inspector general of the Department of Defense is planning to conduct an audit of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling unmanned aerial vehicle program. In a March 21 memorandum addressed to the undersecretary of Defense…
Navy Decommissions Two More Patrol Ships
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy decommissioned two more Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships in March, bring to five the number of PCs retired from the U.S. 5th Fleet this year, all within a one-month period, according to the fleet’s public…
Marine Corps Orders Development of Recovery Variant of ACV
QUANTICO, Va. — The Marine Corps has taken the next step in developing its family of Amphibious Combat Vehicles by beginning development of a maintenance/recovery variant of the ACV. The Marine Corps Systems Command awarded BAE Systems Land & Armaments…
Four Marines Die in MV-22B Crash in Norway
ARLINGTON, Va. — A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft crashed in Norway on March 18, killing all four Marine crewmen on board. The Osprey, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 (VMM-261), based at Marine Corps Air Station…
Budget Funds 37 F-35s for U.S. Naval Aviation in 2022
ARLINGTON, Va. — The fiscal 2022 budget, finally signed into law almost halfway through the fiscal year, provides for 37 F-35 Lightning II strike fighters for the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as 12 FA-18 Super Hornet strike fighters. …
Berger: Ukraine War Demonstrates Vulnerability of Tanks to Missile-Armed Infantry
WASHINGTON — The success of Ukrainian forces in countering Russian armored vehicle columns with missiles and rockets in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine shows the vulnerability of tanks to missile-armed infantry, the Marine Corps commandant said, and seemed to…
MH-60R Helicopters Approved by State Dept. for Spain
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has approved the possible Foreign Military Sale of MH-60R Seahawk helicopters along with support and related equipment to Spain, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 15. The DSCA said the total cost of…
Carrier Aircraft Operate Over Yellow Sea in Response to North Korean ICBMs
ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operated over the Yellow Sea off the west coast of North Korea in a demonstration in response to North Korean launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), deployed in…
