25 May 2023
by Michael Fabey
Electric Boat awarded Newport News Shipbuilding a contract modification for Block V attack submarines. (Newport News Shipbuilding)
General Dynamics Electric Boat awarded HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit a USD305.2 million contract modification to procure long-lead-time material for two additional Block V Virginia-class submarines, HII confirmed on 24 May.
The contract modification brings the overall contract value to USD10.2 billion, HII said.
“These funds are critically important to stabilising and providing predictability to the thousands of suppliers across the country,” said Jason Ward, NNS vice-president of Virginia-class submarine construction. “The submarine industrial base is crucial.”
That base has become a bit unstable recently in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic-related effects, inflation, and supply issues. Officials at HII's NNS division said they are taking measures to stabilise their US nuclear submarine and aircraft construction programmes.
“It's a complex problem,” Ward said on 5 May at the company's Virginia shipyard in an interview before the 6 May christening of the Block IV Virginia-class attack submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798).
“The Virginia-class cadence has not executed [as planned],” Ward said. “We are working to stabilise and accelerate [construction].”
14 March 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
The 36th F-35, delivered in 2014, was CF-19, the US Marine Corps' first F-35C carrier variant. The Milestone C decision has slipped for nearly a decade beyond initial projections, even as the production has continued. (Lockheed Martin)
The US Department of Defense (DoD) approved the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to enter full-rate production, according to a 12 March announcement, even as deliveries remain suspended.
William LaPlante, the DoD undersecretary of defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, signed the full-rate production/Milestone C approval, allowing the programme to transition from low-rate initial production (LRIP).
“This decision – backed by my colleagues in the [DoD] – highlights to the services, F-35 co-operative programme partners, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers that the F-35 is stable and agile, and that all statutory and regulatory requirements have been appropriately addressed,” LaPlante said in the announcement.
“[The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation] conducted [an] analysis of the results from initial operational test and evaluation and live-fire test and evaluation and delivered a comprehensive, combined report as required by statute to inform the Milestone C/full-rate production decision,” said Raymond O'Toole, Jr, the DoD's acting director of operational test and evaluation.
13 March 2024
by Meredith Roaten
The US Army's Precision Strike Missile is meant to strike targets as far as 400 km away. (US Army)
The multimode seeker that makes the US Army's Precision Strike Missile Increment 2 (PrSM Inc 2) unique and more advanced than Inc 1 is holding the capability back from its scheduled procurement in fiscal year (FY) 2025, according to budget documents.
While Inc 1 is designed for land targets, it is the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile multimode seeker that enables Inc 2 to perform maritime targeting for the army. The service is requesting funding for 230 PrSM Inc 1 missiles – an increase from 190 missiles the service planned to purchase for FY 2025 in the 2024 budget request – but Inc 2 procurement has been pushed back to FY 2026, Major General Joe Hilbert, director of force development and deputy chief of staff (G-8), told reporters on 12 March.
“The bottom line is that technology was not ready, not mature enough to go into procurement in [FY 20]25,” Maj Gen Hilbert said. The seeker needs more time to mature, but he declined to provide more engineering details.
12 March 2024
by Michael Fabey
The US Navy's FY 2025 budget requests includes funding for unmanned underwater vehicles. (Boeing)
The proposed fiscal year (FY) 2025 US Navy (USN) budget includes USD172.2 million to develop enabling capabilities and critical technologies for unmanned surface vessels (USVs), including funding for medium, large, and long-range vehicles, according to budget documents.
The funding is intended for Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels (MUSVs), Large Unmanned Surface Vessels (LUSVs), and Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vessels (LRUSVs) including prototype vessel support.
The FY 2025 request also includes USD191.5 million for the Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) family of systems (FoS), which consists of the small and medium UUV (SUUV/MUUV), Snakehead Large Displacement UUV (LDUUV), and the Orca Extra Large UUV (XLUUV).
The SUVVs/MUUVs include Lionfish and Viperfish, designed to provide better battlespace awareness, and along with the Knifefish, provide mine warfare capability. The Orca XLUUV also provides modular payload capability.
Small and medium UUVs are transitioning from fabrication into testing, Rear Admiral Ben Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the navy for budget and director of the USN Fiscal Management Division, noted during an 8 March media briefing of the proposed budget.
General Dynamics Electric Boat awarded HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit a USD305.2 million...
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