By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of the Navy is proposing to procure 75 aircraft with $16.2 billion in the fiscal 2025 budget, but those 75 are divided among only five types. The 2025 budget…
The Correspondent and the Colonel: Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Link Defender and Daughter
Charles Compton was like many a Chicago teenager who learned to fly in the late 1930s and impressed a lovely girl or two along the way on airborne dates. One beauty would become his wife. “It was a lot of…
Navy Awards Bell Textron Contract for 12 AH-1Z Helicopters for Nigeria
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The government of Nigeria is slated to receive 12 AH-1Z Viper helicopter gunships, becoming the third foreign customer for the Viper. In a March 12 contract announcement, the Naval Air Systems…
Navy 2025 Budget Requests Only 6 Battle Force Ships
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2025 budget request proposes only six battle force ships, which, combined with planned ship retirements, would reduce the size of the battle force from 296 ships to…
Navy Reserve Receives Its First P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The first Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy Reserve has been delivered to Patrol Squadron 62 (VP-62). In March 6 ceremonies at the Boeing Military Delivery Facility in…
Navy Opens Second Triton UAV Forward Deployment Site
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy squadron that operates the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle has opened its second deployment site, with this one located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Sicily. During…
STRATCOM Commander Affirms Need for Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va.—The operational commander of the nation’s nuclear arsenal has reiterated to Congress the requirement for a sea-based nuclear-tipped cruise missile. Testifying Feb. 29 before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air force General Anthony…
Raven Warns of CR Impact on Navy Department Budget
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — The Department of the Navy (DON) is facing a reduction of $12 billion of buying power if the Defense Department has to operate through fiscal 2024 under a continuing resolution (CR)…
SURFACE WARFARE: The Nucleus of American Naval Power
By Bryan McGrath The U.S. Navy is too small for what is asked of it, and what is asked of it is insufficient to meet the nation’s needs. We have too few ships, submarines, aircraft, aircraft carriers, people, sensors, weapons…
Houthi Explosive USV Detonated in Red Sea Attack
By Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va.—An uncrewed surface vessel (USV) was detonated in the international shipping lanes Jan. 4 in the latest attack launched from Yemen by Houthi rebels. “Fortunately, there were no casualties, and no ships were…