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CRYSTAL CITY – If Congress doesn’t pass the annual defense spending bill – already 26 days overdue – by January 1st, the Navy’s top priority program may miss its sailing date 14 years from now.
A variety of Navy studies point towards the need for a bigger fleet to handle global requirements, and the upcoming change in administration and end to the Budget Control Act spending caps may present an opportunity to begin thinking creatively about what the future larger fleet may look like.
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s top submarine admirals addressed an audience of the Naval Submarine League Oct. 26. Excerpts and items of their remarks follow:
Adm. Frank Caldwell, director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion:
The Navy needs more underwater drones – and it needs them now.
The new head of the Pentagon's submarine warfare office said Thursday that the slow development of drones that can operate autonomously can't be an excuse for inaction on unmanned underwater vehicles that officials hope will multiply the presence and power of the world's most fearsome undersea force.
The U.S. Navy, which is in the early stages of exploring a potential successor to the Virginia-class attack submarine, expects that unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) will be an integral part of the future submarine’s design.
While the United States Navy will likely require a larger fleet to counter growing threats from around the world, the service is taking its time to ensure that it can deliver a realistic and executable force structure plan. As such, the Navy’s leadership is working on building consensus with the Pentagon leadership and Congress before releasing its force structure assessment for the future.
The Navy should prepare for a future operating environment where anti-ship weapons propagate globally and attacks such as the recent ones against guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87) are more commonplace, one the service’s top budget officials said.
The Navy’s submarine force is looking to reinvigorate its high-end warfare training and plans to do so by finding efficiencies within the current testing and certification schedules, the commander of submarine forces said.
The Pentagon plans to conduct a high-level review of the Navy's Ohio class replacement submarine program in early November, a key service official said Oct. 26.