Navy officials overseeing aircraft carrier construction are beginning to review a list of 25 or 30 cost-saving ideas from Newport News Shipbuilding with the hopes of taking about a billion-and-a-half dollars out of the cost of the next carrier, an official said last week.1752 words

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized congressional efforts to tamper with his department's budget request during a hearing last week with the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, but House Armed Services Committee lawmakers showed no signs of backing down from the changes they want to see made.936 words

Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall certified the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program for continued development by waiving a requirement for the services to set a target for each variant of the aircraft to reach initial operational capability, which they should have by the end of the year, according to a recent report to Congress.312 words

The Navy and Coast Guard plan to host a symposium on the Arctic in September at the Naval War College to identify and prioritize arctic capabilities and needs within the next five years, according to Cmdr. Blake McBride, Arctic affairs officer for Task Force Climate Change.478 words

The Navy will start moving an amphibious ready group (ARG) from Naval Station Norfolk, VA, to Naval Station Mayport, FL, by the end of 2013, according to a June 15 Defense Department statement. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the amphibious ships New York (LPD-21), Iwo Jima (LHD-7) and Fort McHenry (LSD-43) will make the move, with the New York moving first followed by the other two in 2014. "The accelerated time line ensures continued viability of the Mayport ship repair industrial base and maintains the capabilities of the Jacksonville fleet concentration area," which improves the Navy's ability to surge and reduces strategic risk, the statement reads.105 words

The decision to truncate the Block I version of the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile in favor of establishing the Block II program has caused the price of the missile to breach Nunn-McCurdy Act cost thresholds, according to a letter submitted by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to the congressional defense committees last month.314 words

Navy officials are still investigating the cause of a crash early last week of a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator drone near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD, just days before the program unveiled the first MQ-4C BAMS aircraft on the West Coast.268 words

The Marine Corps will still have a balanced maritime prepositioning force even after eliminating one of three prepositioning ship squadrons, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos wrote in an April 17 letter to the defense committees that was reviewed last week by Inside the Navy.561 words

Top Navy and Marine Corps leadership are taking a close look at where directed-energy weapon technology is today and how they want to see it develop in the future as a supplement to kinetic weapons already in the fleet.1089 words

The Navy has specific plans for decommissioning, defueling and dismantling the Enterprise (CVN-65) after 51 years of service beginning in November despite persistent rumors that the ship could be spared and used as a floating military museum. 514 words

The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii is preparing for its first extended dry-docking selected restricted availability on a Virginia-class submarine, with more to come as more of the Navy's attack submarine fleet shifts to the Pacific.557 words

The Marine Corps is seeking to procure its first underwater remotely operated vehicle to use at its Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, according to a service official.413 words

The Navy Multiband Terminal program is on track for a full-rate production decision in November, despite being labeled not operationally suitable by the Pentagon's top weapons tester, according to a Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command spokesman.436 words

The Defense Department's inspector general determined the Navy planned to enter a low-rate initial production review for a minesweeping system without showing it will meet warfighter needs, according to a report released last week.589 words

Despite a shifting emphasis to the Southeast Asia region, the cornerstone of U.S. forces in the Pacific will remain in the Northeast Asia region as the Defense Department broadens its focus on the region, Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters last week.211 words

ST. LOUIS, MO -- Boeing is in the initial stages of planning for the coming F/A-XX next-generation fighter competition, but development of the concept is still a long way off, Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, told reporters here recently.265 words

The Navy will get to 300 ships by 2019, but the question is whether the service will be able to stay at that number with numerous competing demands on the horizon, Under Secretary Bob Work said recently.357 words

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said his best guess is the Pentagon will face additional cuts worth $10 billion annually over the next decade.437 words

The Navy's acquisition directorate is defending procurement plans for the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) program despite program delays and recent praise for another potential connector, the French-designed L-CAT catamaran.627 words

The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard have approved a new interim publication to launch the development of doctrine for maritime stability operations.667 words

The Defense Department should draft contingency plans for the Joint Strike Fighter program that anticipate lower annual funding levels and account for how reduced spending will impact the aircraft's cost and the program's development and procurement schedule, according to the Government Accountability Office.532 words