2021 Budget Spells The End of US Force Expansion

2021 Budget Spells The End of US Force Expansion
2021 Budget Spells The End of US Force Expansion

A smaller 2021 budget and greater funding demands for nuclear weapons development mean the end of plans by the four services to expand their numbers. Rising budgets have allowed the Pentagon to maintain old planes, ships, armored vehicles and other weapons, grow the force and invest in new weapons. The reduced topline in fiscal 2021…

Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25

Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25
Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25

Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China’s layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China’s anti-ship missiles.

Navy Backing Off 355 Ships, But Closer on Refueling Drone

Navy Backing Off 355 Ships, But Closer on Refueling Drone
Navy Backing Off 355 Ships, But Closer on Refueling Drone

There was some good news, and some bad news, for the Navy on Monday.

Frigate RFP Pioneers New Shipbuilding Approach

Frigate RFP Pioneers New Shipbuilding Approach
Frigate RFP Pioneers New Shipbuilding Approach

CRYSTAL CITY: When the Navy publishes its Request For Proposals to design a new frigate, probably today, there should be no surprises for industry. That’s by, well, design. In stark contrast to the predecessor program, the Littoral Combat Ship, where the Navy changed key specs midway through construction at great expense, the frigate is a…

Navy Must Boost Carrier Air Wings’ Range, Size & Lethality

Navy Must Boost Carrier Air Wings’ Range, Size & Lethality
Navy Must Boost Carrier Air Wings’ Range, Size & Lethality

Paris Air Show attendees take note. The Navy needs more new strike fighters to cope with falling readiness rates. Will they be Super Hornets, F-35s or Block III Super Hornets? What mix does the US Navy need as it grapples with boosting the size of the fleet to 355 ships? And what about the MQ-25…

Navy Refueling Drone May Tie Into F-35s

Navy Refueling Drone May Tie Into F-35s
Navy Refueling Drone May Tie Into F-35s

If you’re following the Navy’s new drone program, hold on to something. Keeping track of the various names of what used to be UCLASS and then became CBARS and is now the MQ-XX Stingray — or perhaps the MQ-25 — may make you as dizzy as keeping up with what the Navy plans to do with…

Navy Hits Gas On Flying Gas Truck, CBARS: Will It Be Armed?

Navy Hits Gas On Flying Gas Truck, CBARS: Will It Be Armed?
Navy Hits Gas On Flying Gas Truck, CBARS: Will It Be Armed?

WASHINGTON: More gas. Less stealth. Maybe weapons. New name. Same money. Tighter schedule. That, in a dozen words, is how the Navy is evolving its program for carrier-launched drones. Since the cancellation of the original UCLASS drone– Unmanned Carrier-Launched Aerial Surveillance & Strike — Navy leaders have insisted they would get the simplified successor in…