Defense News – The U.S. Navy must rapidly grow its attack submarine force, field smaller manned and unmanned combatants and examine changing the role of aircraft carriers in the coming decades as part of a massive expansion of the fleet to maintain American dominance on the seas, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Tuesday.

USNI News – Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced a new future fleet plan for the Navy that would grow the attack submarine force, supplement nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with light carriers to achieve greater day-to-day presence, and invest heavily in small and unmanned ships for distributed operations.

USNI News – The Navy is getting closer to operating the new and larger MQ-8C Fire Scout variant on its Littoral Combat Ships, with two squadrons taking possession of their first aircraft and working towards safe-for-flight certification.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s aging surface fleet is getting harder to maintain, and overall is showing declining health in several key areas, such as its main propulsion systems, electrical systems and Aegis combat systems, according to an annual report of the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey submitted to Congress earlier this year.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy has announced that USNS Burlington will carry out a proof-of-concept test: The EPF ship will serve as an afloat forward staging base style platform, transporting a Maintenance Expeditionary Team of active duty sailors and their equipment and repair materials to various Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) locations for scheduled maintenance.

War Zone – SEWIP Block III will introduce new electronic attack capabilities and other enhancements as the Navy prepares to defend its ships in a high-end fight.

Breaking Defense – America has a new military homeport in the Mediterranean, as a US warship will call a small outpost on the Greek island of Crete home, signaling Washington’s deep concerns over the eastern Mediterranean and Russian and Chinese activities in Africa.

War Zone – The P-8 reportedly flew near the southern tip of Taiwan, over tense waters that have been frequented by the Chinese Navy as of late.

War Zone – As competition in the Arctic heats up, the Navy is looking to drastically increase its awareness of what is going on up there.

War Zone – The Navy is standing up the unit now to ensure personnel are as prepared as they can be for the arrival of these drones in the coming years.

USNI News – The first of three inputs to the Pentagon’s Future Naval Force Study was released this week, the Hudson Institute is calling for a future U.S. Navy fleet of 581 battle force ships through the addition of 80 corvettes, 99 unmanned surface vessels, 40 unmanned submarines and 27 new small amphibious ships

Full report is here: American Sea Power at a Crossroads: A Plan to Restore the US Navy’s Maritime Advantage

Defense News – In deciding how to move forward with the warped and carbonized hulk of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, U.S. Navy leaders face a series of choices and all of them are bad.

USNI News – Destroyer USS Stout (DDG-55) recently achieved a record-breaking deployment length after operating at sea for more than 200 days, the Navy announced.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that the Thresher and Scorpion crews were lost at sea is a tragedy. That the U.S. Navy learned from the disasters and made itself better means they did not die in vain. Machiavelli would nod knowingly at the institutional inertia that preceded the accidents—and salute the learning process that followed.

War Zone – The U.S. Navy’s forthcoming force structure review may call for a fleet with up to 534 ships and submarines, including various kinds of unmanned vessels. The is far bigger than the existing Congressionally-mandated goal of a 355-ship fleet, which has long proven to be a struggle for the service to achieve. Plans for an even larger force could run into significant budgetary, recruiting, sustainment, and other hurdles. 

USNI Proceedings – The learning curve is steep, and the T-6B Texan trainer is complex. An instructor pilot offers advice on how to prepare and perform well in this environment.

National Interest – That’s James Holme’s advice to senior decisionmakers who appear set on deploying the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Persian Gulf region just six months after the flattop completed an epic seven-month cruise during which the crew broke all records for consecutive days at sea. Crewmembers spent 205 days at sea, enjoying zero R&R time in port as the ship skirted the pandemic.

USNI News – Next year, the most advanced carrier air wing in history will sail to the Pacific aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). Last week, the Carrier Air Wing 2 took the first steps in getting its new F-35C Joint Strike Fighters and CMV-22B Ospreys integrated into the air wing and aboard the carrier.

Defense News – The Pentagon’s upcoming recommendation for a future Navy is expected to call for a significant increase in the number of ships, with officials discussing a fleet as large as 530 hulls.

Defense News – It has been five years since the attack submarine Boise returned from its last patrol, and this whole time she has been waiting on some loving care and attention in the shipyards.

Defense One – Three main failures are imperiling the sea service, writes the service’s former chief learning officer.

Politico – Next month, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser is expected to make a highly unusual visit to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine to lay out the commander in chief’s vision for a bigger Navy.

Defense News – The United States and its allies have been chilling out this summer, but experts and officials say something has been missing that prevents them from making the most of the experience.

War Zone – The advanced submarine has been spotted sailing to the Royal Navy’s main base in Scotland just weeks after making an unusually public visit to Norway.

Defense News – After shattering the U.S. Navy’s modern record for consecutive time at sea, the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is preparing for another deployment early next year just six months after returning.