Free Republic

This year’s report reflects the naval capabilities projected to meet the challenges the nation faces over the next three decades of the 21st century. The structure requirements articulated in this report are based upon the 313-ship force originally set forth in the FY 2005 Naval Force Structure Assessment that was reported to Congress and referred to by the Chief of Naval Operations in his FY 2009 budget testimony, as amended by decisions made by the Secretary of Defense in the FY 2010 President’s Budget as well as decisions made during the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). As such, the battle...

The big question for the Navy in advance of the QDR and the 2011 budget release was would DOD reconcile the growing gap between the Navy’s shipbuilding and funding plans? The answer is no. They didn’t even try. The QDR pretty much defers on the subject of tying future shipbuilding to strategy. There is some vague talk in the document about the need for the Navy and the Air Force to jointly develop an air-​​sea battle concept to ensure power projection, but it provides no further details. As for the Navy budget, the 2011 request increases funding for new ship...

You could say that the three biggest challenges facing the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding program are money, money, and money. The service has a clear vision of how to construct a networked, flexible fleet suitable for use across the spectrum of conflict. But it only gets $13-14 billion per year to build the warships that will populate that fleet. That isn't much for a country that relies on its Navy every day to sustain nuclear deterrence, assure free transit of sea lanes, and carry the global war on terror to the enemy. However, with the government borrowing $4 billion per day...

The most powerful frontline warship since the Second World War was launched by the Countess of Wessex yesterday, marking a resurgence of British naval ship building. The first Type 45 destroyer is launched yesterday The first of Britain's new Type 45 destroyers took to the waters of the Clyde as the world's most advanced air defence ship. Daring will be able to track and destroy a target the size of a cricket ball travelling at more than three times the speed of sound, a "quantum leap forward in the Navy's capabilities", according the Royal Navy. The boat's defensive system, combining...