The War Zone – The Navy is eyeing a torpedo that can be procured fast and efficiently to augment the more advanced Mk 48 ADCAP.

The War Zone – The Navy wants carrier-based drones to cost less than $15 million and be ‘consumed’ as weapons or targets when their short service ends.

The War Zone – New point defenses, which come amid growing missile and drone threats, are just one Navy modernization effort for the Arleigh Burke class.

The War Zone – U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft can now carry AIM-9X Sidewinders under their wings. As part of the same process, the service has cleared AIM-9Xs to go on pylons underneath the wings of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, expanding the total number of Sidewinders those jets can carry on a single sortie. The Navy took these steps specifically to help give Super Hornets and Growlers flying over and around the Red Sea more options to engage Houthi drones.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that warfare in the Pacific between the U.S. and China promises to be an all-service, all-domain, and allied endeavor. Waging it will demand the utmost not just from naval forces but from fellow services that operate from dry earth.

The War Zone – The testbed that mimics its namesake is designed to help DARPA hone its requirements for a new class of multi-mission submersible drones.

Politico – As the Navy’s largest U.S. trade show gets underway on Monday, officers in charge of the service’s marquee shipbuilding programs won’t offer the usual briefings with reporters and analysts about them.

CIMSEC – In recent years, the world’s waterways have remained relatively safe from conflict. One of the reasons for that safety is that global maritime services seem to intuitively know how to coalesce as regional maritime security enterprises. Organizational learning is a significant enabler of that coalescence, and purposefully dedicated organizational elements (nuclei) help accelerate organizational learning. The ESB is the perfect platform to be a regional nucleus for the U.S. Navy and partner country military entities and coast guards. We just need to reposition the ESBs to the right locations, “market” them appropriately to military decision-makers, and use them in bigger and more creative ways.

USNI News – In an effort to push back China’s influence and expand its presence in Oceania, the U.S. is renovating Lombrum Naval Base on the Island of Los Negros in Papua New Guinea.

National Interest – In the age of uncrewed vehicles and artificial intelligence, every ship of war could—and should—be an “aircraft carrier” of some type or another. The U.S. Navy just might be on to something. 

Breaking Defense – A recent Navy contract award may have extended the lifespan of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet production for a couple more years, but after failing to find additional customers, the aerospace giant plans to close up shop on the legacy fighter after 2027.

The War Zone – A total of 22 Swiss F-5E/F Tiger IIs are currently being converted and upgraded to help expand Navy and Marine Corps’ adversary air fleets.

The War Zone – Two F/A-18E/F Super Hornets fired the quartet of AGM-158C missiles, a reflection of how these weapons would be employed in actual combat.

The War Zone – Adding dozens of small, long-range drones to Navy ships would drastically enhance strike, ISR, networking, and defensive capabilities.

War on the Rocks – “We have to build and sustain submarines in the next 15 to 17-plus years the same way we did in the ’80s with an industrial base that’s one-third the size.” On a recent trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana, the executive director of program executive office strategic submarines laid out the stark challenge facing the U.S. industrial base.

War on the Rocks – The United States is faced with mounting, but not insurmountable, challenges in the Indo-Pacific. If security throughout the region is to be maintained, then the United States should pay greater heed to the asymmetric capabilities of its armed forces. Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems, autonomous vehicles, and mine warfare not only offer the best return on investment but would also align the security interests of the United States and Australia. This opens avenues for increased cooperation under AUKUS pillar two that would be foolish to pass up. Deterrence through denial will play to the strengths of America’s regional allies and mitigate the numerical advantage of Chinese forces.

USNI News – The Navy should “go back to the front end,” thinking about the people needed for building, crewing and maintaining vessels, not just potential threats, a senior naval analyst advised Thursday.

USNI News – The lead ship in a new class of guided-missile frigates for the U.S. Navy may be up to three years late. Constellation (FFG-62), under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, may not deliver to the fleet until 2029, three years later than the original 2026 delivery goal, according to a service shipbuilding review.

The War Zone – The global operational reach of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton fleet has expanded again with the arrival of one of the drones, which are optimized for long-duration overwater missions, at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. From Sigonella, Tritons will be able to provide valuable additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage over and around parts of Europe, especially for keeping tabs on activity in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. At the same time, this all follows the Navy’s decision to significantly scale back its plans for the MQ-4C.

The War Zone – The Navy wants high-power microwave systems to help ships conserve other weapons, specially ones capable of downing ballistic missiles.

War on the Rocks – The list of America’s maritime vulnerabilities is long. The time available to address them is short. The United States should urgently act to develop and execute a national maritime strategy, one that prioritizes speed and effectiveness — and one that recognizes the value of cooperation with key allies.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy sent lawmakers a $2.2 billion wish list for fiscal 2025, which includes several items that would fill in gaps that arose this year due to high-tempo operations in the Red Sea and Congress not yet passing a supplemental spending bill.

National Interest – James Holmes reflects on the USS New Jersey, an iconic Iowa-class dreadnought now serving as a museum ship, is making headlines as it undergoes a significant maintenance phase, including repainting and hull repairs, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Hudson Institute – The DoD will need to be creative and adaptable to gain an advantage and deter conflict in a post-dominance era. Hedge forces could reduce the potential losses to US forces and increase the risk for aggressors like China during an attempted invasion of Taiwan. As a result, the DoD could retain more troop formations, amphibious vessels, and aircraft that are less important to stopping a Taiwan invasion but are essential to other operations.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin have developed and fielded software updates for destroyers shooting down Houthi missiles and drones in the Red Sea, thanks to a team of technical experts that mined data from all the shootdown events since October.