– Project on Government Oversight – The Navy accepted and commissioned the USS Gerald R. Ford early to avoid breaking a cost ceiling on it imposed by Congress. “It is now using operations and maintenance dollars to repair a new ship…” Not only isn’t the Ford ready for war, its use of O&M dollars to make her shipshape is sucking money from the Navy’s 10 other carriers, reducing their readiness.

– National Interest – James Holmes says we should do away with the “carrier strike group” and replace it with the “carrier battle group” of old—a formation outfitted generously with warplanes, surface combatants and logistics ships to punish seaborne foes while warding off attack.

– USNI News – Maintaining very high readiness during a carrier strike group’s post-deployment sustainment phase actually saves the Navy money later on, the service found, despite fears that budget constraints might hinder the Navy from making the most of that time in a ship’s deployment cycle.

– War Zone – In an actual conflict, these boats would discreetly surveil coastlines and help SEALs sneak ashore.

– USNI News – Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) completed its maintenance availability two days early, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) will head into maintenance 10 days early later this month – a major feat, given that only one deployment cycle ago the two carriers had been mixed up in double-pump deployments, truncated maintenance availabilities and an unexpected 24-month repair ordeal. Despite previous struggles on the East Coast to get the aircraft carriers settled back into a healthy routine, Commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic Rear Adm. Bruce Lindsey said his fleet is now successfully executing the 36-month Optimized Fleet Response Plan schedule, thanks to a couple key lessons learned.

– Military.com – The first U.S. pilot to notch an air-to-air kill in nearly 20 years, shooting down a Syrian Su-22 Fitter earlier this summer, recently made his first public comments about the experience.

– USNI News – Fighters from Carrier Air Wing 11 launched from the deck of USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on missions to strike ISIS positions on Monday.

– USNI News – The Navy completed testing on a software fix for its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) that will allow the heaviest planes to take off with less stress to the airframe.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – It is more than a revolution in military affairs; it is a revolution in human affairs.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The United States must overcome the bureaucratic and technical barriers so it has the superior drones needed to prevail in future combat.

– Breaking Defense – It’s a big day for the 2,500-pound Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, LRASM. This morning, contractor Lockheed Martin announced an $86.5 million contract to build the first 23 production missiles – as opposed to test weapons – for use by Navy Super Hornet fighters and Air Force B-1B bombers. Lockheed also announce this afternoon that it had, for the first time, successfully test-fired a modified LRASM from the kind of launchers used on Navy ships.

– USNI News – Spending more money now to increase the Navy’s fleet size will signal to potential adversaries their victory at sea is not possible, but accomplishing this is neither cheap nor quick.

– Breaking Defense – President Donald Trump has identified a fact few of his recent predecessors have understood: the Defense Industrial Base of the United States (DIB) is a critical component of our national security. The DIB is more important than any individual weapons program – be it an aircraft carrier, long range bomber, or high-tech tank. But for too long, the DIB has been ignored, mismanaged or even attacked.

– USNI News – Saturday’s commissioning of aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was a celebration of the end of a long and at-times hard road to bring the warship and its many new technologies to the fleet – a path the Navy may not choose to take again.