U.S. Vice Chief Of Naval Operations: 'Navy Needs As Much As $150B Extra to ‘Jump-Start’ Path To 355 Ships'

The future John F. Kennedy CVN 79 under construction at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. Photo by John Whalen/Huntington Ingalls

USNI News: Moran: Navy Needs As Much As $150B Extra to ‘Jump-Start’ Path to 355 Ships; Would Buy Mostly DDGs, SSNs, Carriers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy needs potentially as much as $150 billion over current budget plans to “jump-start” shipbuilding and get on a trajectory for a 355-ship fleet, the vice chief of naval operations said on Wednesday.

The money would add about 30 ships to the fleet beyond current plans, Adm. Bill Moran said.

The exact size of the future fleet doesn’t matter right now, but rather the Navy just needs to start boosting its investment in shipbuilding quickly – which means buying many more Virginia-class attack submarines, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ford-class aircraft carriers in the next few years, he said.

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WNU Editor: Cough .... cough .... cough. An extra $150 billion to just "jump-start" the building of a 355 ship Navy?!?!?!? This extra money would only add 30 ships .... which means it would cost $5 billion per ship.

it Will Cost The U.S. Navy $566 Billion To Build A 308-Ship Fleet

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. The operations mark the U.S. Navy’s continued presence throughout the area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg / Released)

Navy Times: A 308-ship Navy to cost $566 billion, CBO estimates

A U.S. Navy plan to build a 308 ship fleet will cost a whopping $566 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

As of 2016, the Navy’s fleet of combat capable ships numbered 272, an inadequate number to meet Navy’s role of policing the global commons and responding to near-peer adversaries like Russia and China, according to 2014 Navy assessments.

The 2017 Navy shipbuilding plan, submitted to Congress in July, intends to increase the size of the fleet to 308 ships by building 254 ships over a 30-year period. Figuring in retirement plans of current ships, the U.S. Navy would reach that goal by 2021, according to a report published by the CBO.

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WNU Editor: I suspect that some jaws dropped when they heard that $566 billion number.

Cockpit Footage That Shows Fighter Jet Pilots Performing A Number Of Maneuvers

Daily Mail: Breath-taking footage of real life Topgun pilots dog-fighting, skimming the sea and firing missiles

* Cockpit camera shows pilot taking off from aircraft carrier at high speed
* Other pilots demonstrate extreme control flying upside over sea surface
* Footage captures pilots dropping missiles and firing flares from their jets

A breath-taking compilation video captured the sheer skill and bravery of fighter jet pilots - able to fly fast and low while performing a series of stunts.

The footage was posted to the USA Military Channel on YouTube and shows the pilots dog-fighting at a number of different locations.

The jets can also be seen flying low to both the sea and the ground and there is even some footage of missiles being dropped and fired.

WNU Editor: Some of them are definitely going very fast.

U.S. Navy Does Not Have The Money To Meet It's Shipbuilding Plans For The Long Term

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

U.S. Navy Warns It Can’t Meet 30-Year Funding Needs -- Bloomberg

The U.S. Navy can’t meet its funding needs for surface warships and a new class of nuclear attack submarines from 2025 to 2034, according to the service’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan.

The congressionally required blueprint, submitted late last week and obtained by Bloomberg News, says the Navy’s plan “requires funding at an unsustainable level” unless spending on shipbuilding is increased.

The document outlines challenges facing the plan to increase the Navy fleet to 306 vessels from the current 289 while building 12 new Ohio-class submarines, part of the nation’s nuclear triad of air, land and sea weapons.

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My Comment: This is going to continue to be a growing problem. Congress .... with it's limited financial resources and an unwillingness to fund Pentagon procurement needs .... is not going to change it's position on what funding should the US Navy receive. Something is eventually going to break .... and my prediction is that the U.S. Navy's goal of a 306 vessel fleet is going to be seriously cut back.

The U.S. Navy's Numbers Do Not Add Up

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

Challenging The Navy’s Numbers -- Walter Pincus, Washington Post

Since the Defense Department faces the need to reduce expenditures, here is one suggested new year’s resolution: Make the military services have a mandatory 80 percent confidence level in their estimated costs of a new weapons systems before major funding is approved.

What is a “confidence level?” the average taxpayer might ask. It is something the services have been doing for years but without much publicity. It is the percentage guesstimate by which the military service believes the cost it puts forward for a new, major acquisition will actually hit that figure.

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My Comment: Like all government programs .... military or not .... the ugly truth is that in the end they never rally add up.

The US Navy's Future: Fewer Ships, Fewer Weapons, Fewer Jobs

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

Weapons Cuts, Fewer Jobs Likely Lie Ahead In Navy’s Future -- Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – Star Trek-style weapons development will be among the first cuts the new chief of naval operations says he will recommend for next year’s expected defense budget overhaul, but those savings alone might not spare sailors from personnel cuts in an era of unprecedented retention.

Following an all-hands meeting Monday at Yokosuka Naval Base, Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Stars and Stripes that some high-tech weapons and sensors were unaffordable, given that naval budget cuts appear certain in the coming years.

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My Comment: I guess they will not be ordering any new aircraft carriers in the near future.

The Navy Budget - Part Two: Ships

The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and its strike group will
deploy to Japan on Saturday. Christopher Brown / Navy

From Aviation Week:

The Navy has requested eight ships in the FY '10 budget, and included advanced procurement of seven. "That's a slow climb to 313," said Ike Skelton (D-Miss.) yesterday morning at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead agreed with him.

Here's a little more detail behind what the Navy's asking for in FY '10 for its ships budget:

Aircraft carriers: The Navy remains committed to a force of 11 carriers for the next thirty years. Between the planned 2012 inactivation of the Enterprise and the 2015 delivery of the Gerald Ford, legislative relief is needed to temporarily reduce the operational carrier force to 10, the Navy said. Extending the Enterprise beyond 2012 involves "significant technical risk, challenges manpower and the industrial base" and requires spending $2.8 billion with "minimal operational return" on the investment.

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The Navy Budget - Part One: Aircraft

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Photo Credit: Boeing Photo

From Aviation Week:

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead went before the House Armed Services Committee May 14 to justify the service's request for funding on a variety of projects. I listed, in very brief terms, the priorities on the Fiscal 2010 budget list on budget day last week, but Roughead provided more detail this morning. Here's a round-up of what they're asking for.

The F/A-18 and Joint Strike Fighter: Roughead called the F/A-18 E/F the "aviation backbone" of the Navy. At the rate the service is operating the aircraft, the number of carrier-capable strike fighters will decrease between 2016 and 2020, affecting readiness. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is "essential" to addressing the Navy's strike fighter needs. "As the Hornets age ... how we move forward, whether through extension or other options is yet to be addressed," Roughead told lawmakers. "Timely delivery of the JSF in 2015 is key. That's an absolutely critical addition to our fleet."

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U.S. Lawmakers Warn Navy On Ship Costs

The Navy has issued a stop-work order on the LCS 3 after talks with its builder, Lockheed Martin, stalled. Here, the first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1) makes a spectacular side launch during her christening at the Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis., in September. U.S. Navy

From Reuters:

* Lawmakers warn shore-hugging ships may be in jeopardy

* Navy says ships are needed, reforms being implemented

* Panel chairman frustrated by Navy response (Recasts first paragraph, adds lawmakers)

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers grilled Navy officials on Tuesday about massive cost growth and delivery delays in a new coastal warship program, but Navy officials said they remained committed to buying 55 of the ships and cutting future costs.

"Everyone should understand that the current situation of these vessels costing in excess of a half billion dollars cannot continue," Representative Gene Taylor, the Democratic chairman of the seapower subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing on the new warship.

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My Comment: This is the lawmakers preparing the ground for future cuts in the Navy .... the sad part of this episode is that the lawmakers are right.