USNI News
Acting SECNAV: Navy Shipbuilding Faces Review from Incoming Biden Officials
February 2, 2021 5:27 PM
In this aerial photograph, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) sits at Pier 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding division. The ship is approximately 76 percent complete and is progressing through final outfitting and testing. Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.
As the Biden administration continues filling key positions, its plans for the Navy should come into better focus, according to the service’s top civilian.
Speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association’s virtual Expeditionary Warfare conference on Tuesday, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker said he expects to have a clearer understanding of the Biden administration’s shipbuilding plans once administration officials like the deputy defense secretary, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the OMB deputy director are confirmed to their posts.
The New F-15EX Flies For The First Time Ahead Of The First Deliveries Later This Year
The New F-15EX Flies For The First Time Ahead Of The First Deliveries Later This Year
The F-15EX AF 20-0001 photographed immediately after the landing gear retraction during the takeoff. (Photo: @vikingaeroimages)
The new advanced F-15EX Eagles will replace the older F-15Cs that have long surpassed their expected service-life estimates.
The first new F-15EX built for the U.S. Air Force took the skies for the first time today from Boeing’s plant at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. The aircraft, serial AF 20-0001, blasted off from runway 30L at about 1:53 pm ET, using the callsign RED 62 [a previous version of the story reported the c/s as BREM but we were informed it was RED, another Boeing flight test callsign], for a 90-minute test flight. This maiden flight was initially scheduled for yesterday, however it had to be delayed because of the weather. The photos of the aircraft were
. (These proposals subsequently failed.) The net difference between those two views is well over $150 billion dollars in a single year.
In an ideal world, the defense budget debate would be fact-based and informed. Of course, no one should be under any illusion that final defense budgets spring fully formed from dispassionate strategic analyses. The last word on defense spending always results from the clash of strategic thought and the reigning political environment.
In the United States, such quarrels go back to the birth of the nation. George Washington did not just fight the British. He also constantly fought the Continental Congress for money to support the impoverished colonial army. In 1941, with war approaching, Gen. George Marshall repeatedly quarreled over the need for more money with President Franklin Roosevelt, who was caught between competing political interests. More recently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates battled to establish a floor under defense funding, s
Defense analysts say each military service will likely be forced to make some difficult choices that have been put off for years because Pentagon spending is expected to plateau or even be cut in the post-Trump, post-COVID-19 era.
Search for:
Home » Budget Industry » UPDATED: White House-Led Navy Shipbuilding Plan Set to Push Boundaries of Pentagon Budgets, Industry Capacity
UPDATED: White House-Led Navy Shipbuilding Plan Set to Push Boundaries of Pentagon Budgets, Industry Capacity
December 10, 2020 6:02 PM
Island of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is landed onto the flight deck during a mast-stepping ceremony at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., on May 29, 2019. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information from the Navy, the Office of Management and Budget and reaction from Congress.
The administration today released a long-range Navy shipbuilding plan that is likely to set up a fight for resources between the Navy and its sister services and between the Pentagon and Congress over how quickly to pursue these changes.