Defense Technology International – US Plans Sub-Launched UAV Test

The US Naval Research Laboratory plans to demonstrate the launch of an unmanned aircraft from a submerged submarine – and not just any UAV, but a fuel cell-powered aircraft that has already demonstrated the ability to stay aloft more more than 6 hours.

Virginian Pilot – Northrop Grumman’s move won’t alter Navy’s course

The Navy has shrugged off Northrop Grumman Corp.’s decision to sell or spin off its shipbuilding business, including the Newport News shipyard that builds aircraft carriers and submarines.

Virginian Pilot – Northrop Grumman may sell shipbuilding operations

Northrop Grumman Corp. is poised to shed its shipbuilding operations, including the Newport News shipyard that builds the Navy’s aircraft carriers.

Wall Street Journal – Navy Weighs Ship’s Design, Along With Its Own Future

The contest to build the Littoral Combat Ship underscores a broader discussion taking place inside and outside the Navy about the future size and shape of the service’s fleet.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – The Right Submarine for Lurking in the Littorals

Antisubmarine SSKs are small, quiet, and maneuverable—just the thing for operating in shallow and narrow waterways.

Defense Technology International – Growler Grows Up

The U.S. Navy’s efforts to ready the growing EA-18G Growler fleet for operational use are ramping up.

Defense Technology International – Navy Grappling with Climate Change

On May 21st, the U.S. Navy released its Climate Change Roadmap, a document developed by the sea service’s Task Force Climate Change that lays out the basic parameters of how the Navy sees climate change affecting its operations, and what steps it may need to take over the next five years.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Reintegrating our Wounded Warriors

“A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.” -President Theodore Roosevelt

Armed Forces Journal – Deep dive

Self-inflicted attack sub cuts cripple America’s sea superiority

Washington Post – CBO says submarine program will be more expensive than Navy’s estimates

The Navy’s new nuclear-missile submarine could cost, on average, about $1 billion more than the service projects, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Each submarine could cost about $8.2 billion, or almost 14 percent more than the Navy’s estimate of $7.2 billion, the CBO said. The first ship of the class — typically the most expensive — could run as high as $13 billion, or $4 billion over the Navy estimate, the nonpartisan agency said in a report released Tuesday.

Defense Technology International – Air-Sea Battle: The Other Future

Tuesday morning, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments presented its report on the “air-sea battle” on Capitol Hill, introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Thune. The report and associated presentation are worth a detailed read. Let’s just say that the ideas are far reaching and suggest a future for the US military that’s very different from its “boot centric” present.

New York Times – Quiet Resistance to Women on Subs

While the decision to allow women to serve on submarines opens a prestigious career path to women and increases the Navy’s recruiting pool for submarine postings, it has been met with quiet resistance within what has long been proudly called “the Silent Service,” according to active-duty and retired submariners.

Defense Technology International – LCS-2 Makes Waves

On a clear, calm day in late March, on only the ship’s fifth full day at sea, the crew saw how fast the Navy’s second Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-2), designed by General Dynamics, could go…

San Diego Union Tribune – Navy helicopter pilots see their profile rise

Their $33 million helicopters are new. There’s an aircraft-carrier briefing room with their name on the door now. And they get extra parking spaces on the multimillion-dollar real estate of the carrier flight deck. All the attention feels a little odd, Navy helicopter pilots say.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – More Henderson, Less Bonds

Not only do Influence Squadrons save money by deploying lower-priced ships, their sheer numbers also allow for more presence, a U.S. Navy version of the on-base percentage in Major League Baseball.

Defense Technology International – Endurance UAV + Small Deck = ?

Can you develop an unmanned aircraft that can provide Predator-like endurance and payload capability from the flightdeck of something as small as a Littoral Combat Ship?

Defense Technology International – Ice Gap

Is the SecDef taking stock of American icebreaking capabilities?

Orbis – How the United States Lost the Naval War
of 2015

Years of strategic missteps in oceans policy, naval strategy and a force structure in decline set the stage for U.S. defeat at sea in 2015. After decades of double-digit budget increases, the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) was operating some of the most impressive systems in the world, including a medium-range ballistic missile that could hit a moving aircraft carrier and a super-quiet diesel electric submarine that was stealthier than U.S. nuclear submarines. Coupling this new asymmetric naval force to visionary maritime strategy and oceans policy, China ensured that all elements of national power promoted its goal of dominating the East China Sea. The United States, in contrast, had a declining naval force structured around 10 aircraft carriers spread thinly throughout the globe. With a maritime strategy focused on lower order partnerships,and a national oceans policy that devalued strategic interests in freedom of navigation, the stage was set for defeat at sea. This article recounts how China destroyed the USS George Washington in the East China Sea in 2015. The political fallout from the disaster ended 75 years of U.S. dominance in the Pacific Ocean and cemented China’s position as the Asian hegemon.

Thanks to Cris for the link!

Defense Technology International – It’s A Hovercraft! It’s A Catamaran! But Wait…

As early as September, the Office of Naval Research could pick one of three companies to build a prototype of the Transformable Craft, or T-Craft, one of the most extraordinary marine craft ever proposed.

Defense Technology International – Gates Says Navy Needs to Ask Itself Hard Questions

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made a roomful of Navy officers and Naval industry types choke on their lunch yesterday afternoon at the Air Sea Space convention when he flat out told them that the Navy budget is going to remain flat in the near-term, and that the service has to ask itself “whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3 [billion] to $6 billion destroyers, $7 billion submarines and $11 billion carriers.”

BBC – US Navy asked to share submarine detail

A US nuclear attack submarine could have been responsible for the sinking of a French trawler off the Cornish coast, a submarine expert has said.

Virginian Pilot – After many issues, the Enterprise is ready for battle

Commissioned in 1961, the Enterprise is the oldest nuclear carrier in the fleet. Repair crews found damage and decay – from rotted pipes to fried electronics – far beyond what they’d expected.

Washington Post – Plans to allow women and gays, ban smoking shake world of Navy submarines

Imagine 150 fraternity brothers packed into a container the size of a three-bedroom house. Announce you are breaking hallowed traditions by taking away their cigarettes and admitting women. Then lock the doors and push the container deep into the sea, for months at a time. That’s what the Navy, after decades of contemplation and controversy, has decided to do with its Submarine Force, an elite fraternity of 13,000 active-duty sailors that has been patrolling the oceans for 110 years.

Virginian Pilot – Revolutionary combat ship could change face of Navy

Where are all the sailors? That’s usually the first question visitors ask when they step aboard the Independence. The littoral combat ship’s unusually small crew – it takes 40 sailors to operate the $700 million vessel – is only the beginning of what sets it apart.

Defense Technology International – More From the Littoral Combat Ship

With a crew of just 40 sailors, everyone aboard the Littoral Combat Ship Independence — the General Dynamics and Austal-made LCS, bidding against Lockheed Martin’s USS Freedom for the ultimate Navy contract — is expected to wear multiple hats.