SAN DIEGO — General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced July 12 it continues on-time delivery of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) for installation on the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers USS John F Kennedy (CVN 79) and USS Enterprise (CVN 80). GA-EMS’ EMALS and AAG installed aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed successful at-sea operational testing during an 18-month Post Delivery Trial and Test (PDT&T) period.  

“The effects of the pandemic during the past year have presented everyone with some incredible challenges, and we are proud of our team’s dedication and focus on delivering EMALS and AAG equipment for Ford-class carriers even under the most difficult of circumstances,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “Under multiple contracts with the Navy, we continue to support CVN 78 sustainment requirements, and deliver EMALS and AAG for the next two Ford-class carriers now under construction, CVN 79 and CVN 80.”  

“Multiple contract awards help us efficiently maximize manufacturing plans to ensure there are no gaps in production and we are able to maintain a stable supply chain and workforce to meet the deliverables schedule,” continued Forney. “We’ve delivered 97% of EMALS and AAG equipment for CVN 79, meeting the installation schedule. We also remain on track to support the CVN 80 construction schedule, having built, tested and delivered more than 25% of EMALS and AAG CVN 80 equipment to date. With that said, we remain poised to provide these same critical technologies as the Navy determines the EMALS and AAG contract and schedule requirements for the fourth Ford-class aircraft carrier, USS Doris Miller (CVN 81).” 

GA-EMS recently announced that EMALS and AAG aboard CVN 78 achieved 8,157 successful aircraft launches and recoveries during the ship’s Independent Steaming Events. Over 400 pilots, including new student aviators, achieved their initial carrier qualifications or recertified their proficiency using EMALS and AAG. Both systems successfully completed Aircraft Compatibility Testing, which confirms the ability to launch and recover aircraft in the current naval air wing. The systems also provide greater flexibility over legacy systems to accommodate the future air wing, including both manned and unmanned aircraft.  

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, has been awarded a $171.6 million contract for Low-Rate Initial Production Lot I, or LRIP I, of the U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB), the company said in a July 8 release. The award advances the program from the development stage into production and deployment. 

NGJ-MB is the Navy’s advanced electronic attack system that offensively denies, disrupts and degrades enemy technology, including air-defense systems and communications. NGJ-MB uses the latest digital, software-based and Active Electronically Scanned Array technologies. This allows operators to non-kinetically attack significantly more targets and at greater distances. 

“With its power and ability to jam multiple radars simultaneously, NGJ-MB will fundamentally change the way the Navy conducts airborne electronic attack,” said Annabel Flores, vice president of Electronic Warfare Systems for RI&S. “NGJ-MB will increase the survivability and lethality of fourth-and fifth-generation fighters, making naval aviation that much more effective.” 

The award follows last week’s Milestone C decision, advancing the program into the production and deployment phase. NGJ-MB has completed more than 145 hours of developmental flight-testing using mission systems and aeromechanical systems. The program has also completed over 3,100 hours of anechoic chamber and lab testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California. Chamber tests evaluated the system’s performance both on and off the EA-18G Growler aircraft, in addition to jamming techniques and reliability testing. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has determined its planned ship retirement schedule for fiscal 2022. The list includes 22 ships, including 15 battle force ships. 

In a July 2 administrative message, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations announced the plans to decommission 19 ship ships from the fleet and remove from service three ships from the Military Sealift Command.  

The list includes two Los Angeles-class attack submarines (SSNs); seven Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers (CGs); five Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships (PCs) and four littoral combat ships (LCSs) — three Freedom-class and one Independence-class LCS. The PCs are forward deployed to the Persian Gulf; they are not considered battle force ships.     

The Navy is proposing to retire seven Ticonderoga-class CGs during fiscal 2022, including two — USS Hue City and USS Anzio — which were not previously planned for retirement. The material condition of the cruisers’ hull and mechanical systems has attracted considerable concern while the cost of keeping the cruisers in service has risen.   

Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities, testified June 17 before the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that retaining the seven CGs would cost roughly $5 billion across the Future Years Defense Plan. Retaining the ships for two years would cost more than $2.87 billion. He said the cost to modernize Hue City and Anzio alone would cost approximately $1.5 billion.  

Extending the service lives of the cruisers “is costing more than we thought it would be,” he said. “Initially it was $2.4 billion, but we’re adding a lot of money to do that.”   

The proposed cruiser retirements have been criticized by some in Congress as antithetical to growing the fleet to meet the demands of great power competition. 

The decommissioning of some littoral combat ships also has attracted congressional attention, given that they are relatively new ships. 

Congressional mark-ups of defense bills may challenge some of the proposed retirements.  

The ships to be retired and the dates in 2022 by which they scheduled for retirement are listed below:

Ship Name                            Projected Inactivation          Inactive Status

(All dates in 2022 except where noted)

USS Tempest (PC 2)                        March 29                               Foreign Military Sales

USS Typhoon (PC5)                        March 14                               Foreign Military Sales

USS Squall (PC 7)                            April 10                                 Foreign Military Sales

USS Firebolt (PC 10)                      March 1                                 Foreign Military Sales

USS Whirlwind (PC 11)                   April 24                                  Foreign Military Sales

USS San Jacinto (CG 56)                 Sept. 30                                 Reserve

USS Lake Champlain (CG 57)         March 31                                Reserve

USS Monterey (CG 61)                   Feb. 22                                   Reserve

USS Hue City (CG 66)                     March 31                                Reserve

USS Anzio (CG 68)                          March 31                                Reserve

USS Vella Gulf (CG 72)                    Feb. 18                                   Reserve

USS Port Royal (CG 73)                  March 31                                Reserve

USS Fort Worth (LCS 3                  March 31                                 Reserve

USS Coronado (LCS 4)                   March 31                                Reserve

USS Detroit (LCS 7)                       March 31                                Reserve

USS Little Rock (LCS 9)                 March 31                                 Reserve

USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41)       April 30                                   Reserve

USS Providence (SSN 719)            Dec. 2 (2021)                          Recycle

USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723)      June 21                                   Recycle

USNS Apache (T-ATF 172)            June 30                                   Disposal

USNS 1st LT Harry L. Martin (T-AK 2015)     Dec. 30                    Disposal

USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat (T-AK 3016)          Dec. 31                  Disposal

The Navy has completed refitting three of its oldest but largest oceanographic research ships (AGORs), permitting them to serve for an additional 15 years. The global-class ships, R/V Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR 23), R/V Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) and R/V Atlantis (AGOR 25), entered service between 1991 and 1998 and were built for a 30-year service life.

The final ship, Atlantis, will complete its overhaul on July 10. Rob Sparrock, program manager for research ships with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), said the Navy’s investment of $150 million for all three of the research ships was a good value. “We’ve extended their service lives by at least 15 years, so we got 45 years of service for less than the cost of one new ship with a 30-year service life.”

Sparrock manages six Navy-owned oceanographic research vessels; the historic deep-submersible vehicle Alvin; and the Floating Instrument Platform, or FLIP, which are charter-leased to U.S. academic research institutions to operate and maintain in support of Navy and U.S. ocean research objectives.

ONR also employs other oceanographic platforms, such as unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned air vehicles, which are used to collect field data through the Naval Research Facilities program.

The Thomas G. Thompson  was delivered to the Office of Naval Research on July 8, 1991 and is operated by the University of Washington. A permanent civilian crew is assigned to the ship, but various researchers deploy in support of their specific programs and are typically funded by the National Science Foundation, Navy, NOAA and other federal/state agencies.

Because her expected service life was 30 years, she would have been retired this year.  Instead, Vigor Industrial shipyard in Seattle was contracted to renovate the ship, which began in June of 2016 at a cost of $52 million. 

Sparrock said the ships were upgraded with new diesel engines, which are more reliable and environmentally friendly, as well as quieter, an important attribute in oceanographic research. The ships now have better laboratory and work spaces, along with improved habitability, new berthing spaces and a gym.

“They’re 25 to 30 years old, but we’ve made them ‘newer’ and greener than most research vessels,” he said.

During the refit, the propulsion system was largely replaced with new diesel generators, overhauled propulsion motors, and new switchboards, control systems and alarms. Electrical cable and pipework were replaced as well as the air conditioning, refrigeration, sewage and freshwater systems. New research and navigation instruments were also added.

The two newest Navy Ocean-class AGORs, R/V Neil Armstrong and R/V Sally Ride, are five and six years old, respectively. By conducting the service life extensions on the oldest on the Navy’s 15 research ships, Sparrock said the Navy’s ocean-going fleet is “good for another 10 to 15 years.”

The AGORs are operated by partner academic institutions. A fourth ship of the class, the NOAAS Ronald H. Brown, was built for and operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. All four ships were built at VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

While Atlantis can perform the same kinds of research as the other Globals, and will sometimes deploy without the deep submergence vessel, only Atlantis can support Alvin.  They’re a pair. “Atlantis will perform 280 to 300 days of underway science a year, with 100-plus days devoted to Alvin work.” Sparrock said.

Atlantis is operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and is the mothership to the Navy’s deep-diving Alvin bathyscaph. Although Alvin first entered service in 1964, it has been systematically modernized and upgraded over the years to remain quite youthful, and has made more than 5,000 dives.

“She’s been rebuilt so often that it’s not a 60-year-old platform we’re refurbishing, said Sparrock. “Most recently, we upgraded her to have a 6,500-meter depth capability.”

Sparrock said Alvin is the last of the Navy’s deep ocean research submersibles, and has a long history of finding lost nuclear weapons, discovering previously unknown hydrothermal vents and associated sea life, and locating the Titanic.  “It’s a fascinating tool of the Academic Research Fleet,” Sparrock said. “Alvin is a national treasure.”

In addition to the Global-class ships, there are also regional-class and local-class ships, which perform missions in coastal waters. The National Science Foundation and State Institutions also own ships in the Academic Research Fleet. Scheduling for the 18 vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet is coordinated by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), an organization representing 59 academic institutions and national laboratories that conduct in oceanographic research and work together to coordinate the oceanographic ship and research facility schedules.

NOAA’s Ronald H. Brown and the U.S. Coast Guard medium icebreaker USCGC Healy are not part of the academic research fleet per se, but participate in UNOLS scheduling.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy has ordered three MH-60R helicopters from the manufacturer to replace three transferred to the government of Greece. 

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a $129 million contract modification for the production and delivery of three MH-60R Seahawk helicopters “as replacement-in-kind for the Navy,” the Defense Department said in a June 29 contract announcement.   

The three replacement-in-kind (RIK) aircraft are in support of the Hellenic navy Foreign Military Sales, said Liz Mildenstein, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Systems Command. “The U.S. Navy issued three ‘green’ exportable MH-60Rs to the Hellenic navy in order to support the stated delivery schedule in the FMS case. The RIK aircraft are to replenish the U.S. Navy inventory.” 

The Naval Air Systems Command, through the Foreign Military Sales Program, originally awarded a $194 million contract modification to Lockheed Martin for four MH-60Rs and three airborne low-frequency sonar systems to be used by the helicopters for Greece, according to an Oct. 26 Defense Department contract announcement.  

The MH-60R is the U.S. Navy’s maritime strike and anti-submarine helicopter. The helicopter type also has been ordered and/or exported to the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Danish Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Navy, the Republic of Korea Navy and the Indian Navy.  

ARLINGTON, Va. — The ranking member of the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee HASC) said he asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to direct the acting Navy Secretary to rescind a directive that cancels a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile program, the SLCM-N. 

The Defense Department’s (DoD’s) 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) said the department would pursue a Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N) “leveraging existing technologies to help ensure its cost effectiveness. SLCM will provide a needed non-strategic regional presence, an assured response capability. It also will provide an arms-control compliant response to Russia’s non-compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, its non-strategic nuclear arsenal, and its other destabilizing behaviors.”   

The review asserted an SLCM “will not require or rely on host nation support to provide deterrent effect. They will provide additional diversity in platforms, range, and survivability, and a valuable hedge against future nuclear ‘break out’ scenarios.”

The president’s 2022 budget would, if approved by Congress, fund the SLCM-N in 2022. But a memorandum by Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker — issued before the summit meeting in Switzerland between U.S. President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin — directed that the SLCM-N be defunded in the 2023 budget, said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, speaking July 7 in a webinar of the Hudson Institute. 

“The acting secretary of the Navy issues a memorandum that instructed the staff constructing the budget for 2023 to defund this sea-launched cruise missile,” Turner said. “It is currently funded in this [2022] budget as it came over from President Biden’s submission. In his testimony, he [Harker] claimed to not have spoken to anyone” and made the decision “just on his own.” 

Turner pointed out the need for a flexible deterrent, that SLCM-N is “a weapon that is absolutely needed” to counter Russia’s INF treaty violations.  

“The acting secretary, in saying that he didn’t speak to anyone, the secretary of defense and the chief of staff have all said that they were not involved officially,” Turner said. “Now, what’s horrible about this is that Biden was on his way to go meet with Putin to have their so-called summit, and on Biden’s agenda was, of course, arms control, and here we have the acting secretary of the Navy basically telling Russia that we’re not going to field this, we’re not going to develop it, we’re going to defund it. And it really undermined the president that the acting secretary admitted that he understood that his actions had undermined the president of the United States.” 

In June 15 testimony before the HASC, Harker said that, in considering the 2023 budget in work, “my initial guidance was based on the fact that the overall posture review and the [updated] National Defense Strategy have not been completed, so I didn’t want anyone to assume that [SLCM-N] would be in until we had further guidance from the Nuclear Posture Review.” 

Turner said he sees an undercurrent of within DoD that is undermining the U.S. nuclear strategic deterrent through universal disarmament of the United States.  

“Here we have a missile that has a capability that we need and that we have this desire for arms control,” Turner said, noting that canceling a needed capability “would unilaterally concede and get nothing from the Russians or Chinese in any concessions in their systems. But that undercurrent of policy at DoD really has to be brought forward. … The [next] Nuclear Posture Review is ongoing; even the assessment of alternatives for the SLCM itself is ongoing.  

“Now I’ve asked the secretary of defense to direct the acting secretary of the Navy to rescind this direction,” Turner said. “I certainly hope that he does that. It sends the wrong message.” 

The HASC chairman, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington, has stated his opposition to the SLCM as being destabilizing to the nuclear balance.  

ROTA, Spain – The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) departed Naval Station Rota, Spain, for the last time as a Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) destroyer, June 30, 2021, said Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaila Peters, in a July 6 U.S. 6th Fleet release. 

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), the lead ship of its class of Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyers with the latest AEGIS baseline 9 upgrade, replaced Donald Cook in the second of four scheduled homeport shifts to occur in support of the U.S. Navy’s long-range plan to gradually rotate the Rota-based destroyers. USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) replaced USS Carney (DDG 64) in the first homeport shift.   

“These Sailors distinguished themselves throughout their five years deployed overseas,” said Capt. Joseph Gagliano, Commander, Destroyers Squadron 60 and Task Force 65. “Their contribution to NATO security and freedom of navigation is a legacy that will now continue with Arleigh Burke.” 

Donald Cook bookended its operations in U.S. 6th Fleet by conducting operations in the Black Sea. 

Upon arrival in U.S. 6th Fleet in 2014 as one of the first Rota-based FDNF-E destroyers under Commander, Task Force (CTF) 65, Donald Cook executed operational tasking immediately by conducting operations in the Black Sea following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. After 11 patrols and numerous visits to the Black Sea, the ship wrapped up its last visit to the Black Sea in support of NATO Allies and regional partners, Feb. 10, 2021. During this last visit, Donald Cook conducted presence operations, demonstrated commitment to NATO allies and partners, and engaged in exercises that strengthened interoperability and collective readiness. 

Donald Cook’s commitment to NATO Allies and regional partners extended well beyond the Black Sea. During its time in Europe, Donald Cook operated from the Barents Sea above Europe, to the Gulf of Guinea along the west coast of Africa.  

“Donald Cook’s time in 6th Fleet has afforded this ship and her crew a number of invaluable experiences that are unique to this area of operation to include operating in the Black Sea, crossing the Arctic Circle, and a multitude of international operations,” said Cmdr. Matthew Curnen, Donald Cook’s commanding officer. “My time in 6th Fleet has been unlike anything else I’ve experienced in my naval career. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities and challenges it has presented that have helped all of us grow professionally and personally.” 

The agility and capabilities of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer has made it an ideal platform to integrate and strengthen relations with regional allies and partners.  

Throughout Donald Cook’s time in U.S. 6th Fleet, the ship participated in previous iterations of Exercise Sea Breeze, BALTOPs, Phoenix Express, Formidable Shield, Atlas Handshake, and other multi-lateral maritime training opportunities with partners to include Algeria, France, Georgia, Italy, Morocco and Norway. Mission sets during these exercises included surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-air warfare scenarios that focus on maintaining maritime stability and security. 

Notable milestones include Donald Cook’s Oct. 2019 visit to the High North for the first time. The ship’s presence in the Arctic Circle reinforced the United States’ commitment to regional security and stability, as well as the Navy’s ability to deploy to many different environments on short notice, and the value of having forward-deployed naval forces available to operate in the region.  

The visit also provided the crew the rare opportunity to become “Blue Nose” Sailors when the ship crossed into the Arctic Circle, a Navy tradition that only Sailors who have been to the Arctic can claim. Donald Cook’s time in the High North followed a historic port visit to the Faroe Islands, with Donald Cook being the Navy’s first destroyer to visit the island, and the first Navy vessel to visit in 33 years. 

“It has been a bittersweet departure from Rota,” said Operations Specialist Second Class Jory Fetterolf. “My time in Spain has been an amazing opportunity to experience a different culture and afforded me the opportunity to travel to places I would’ve never seen if I wasn’t stationed here, however, I’m excited to return to the Unites States to be closer to family.” 

Donald Cook completed one final underway to the Aegean Sea to perform maneuver exercises with the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) to conclude its last patrol. The two destroyers formed a Surface Action Group (SAG) led by Capt. Joseph Gagliano, commander, Task Force 65, who was embarked on the Roosevelt during this underway. The SAG conducted numerous scenarios to provide integrated training and test real-time response to combat situations. 

Named after U.S. Marine Corps Col. Donald G. Cook, a prisoner of War during the Vietnam War who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, Donald Cook is scheduled to return to its former homeport of Mayport, Florida. 

Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe ships have the flexibility to operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain. 

CTF 65 and Destroyer Squadron 60, headquartered in Rota, Spain, oversee the FDNF of C6F’s area of operation in support of regional allies and partners as well as U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. 

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. 

ARLINGTON, Va. —  The commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet says he is concerned about People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a pacing threat, but he is also confident in his forces, allies and operational designs to thwart any attempt by China to seize Taiwan by force.

“China is a pacing threat,” Adm. Sam Paparo said June 29 during the final webinar of the West 2021 symposium of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, and the U.S. Naval Institute. Paparo said he interpreted that to mean China’s development of its own combat capability, particularly maritime capability, “is the factor that we’re taking into account in making our own investments in our own combat capabilities.”

Paparo, who took command of the Pacific Fleet in May, said he completely agreed with the former head of Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Philip Davidson, who told a Senate hearing in March that China might attempt to take over Taiwan in six years, as part of its aim to expand its influence across the region and supplant the U.S. leadership role in the rules-based international order by 2050. China claims Taiwan, a position officially supported by the United States.

“I worry about China’s intentions,” Paparo said. “It doesn’t make a difference to me, whether it is tomorrow, next year  or whether it is in six years. At Pacific Fleet and Indo-Pacific Command we have a duty to be ready to respond to threats to U.S. security.”

That duty includes delivering a fleet “capable of thwarting any effort on the part of the Chinese to upend that [world] order, to include the unification by force of Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China,” the admiral said. “But I also feel confident in our Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen … as well as our operational designs to thwart such an effort with the teamwork of our allies and partners.” 

Asked if there was any further discussion of creating a numbered fleet for the Indian Ocean, Paparo noted that by Navy doctrine, every numbered fleet is a tactical three star headquarters that can be deployed worldwide against any task.

“No numbered fleet, anywhere in the world has a monopoly on any battle space. They are broadly associated with bits of geography by convention,” he said. While hard to imagine the 5^th, 6^th or 7^th fleets being separated from the geographic areas where they have deep relationships as a function of their placement, the 4^th, 2^nd and 3^rd fleets “are up and ready rounds that can be deployed to the point of need.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of the Navy (DoN) should invite supporters in Congress to the wargaming process “so we can better advocate for the Navy,” a House Armed Services Committee member has suggested.

During a Washington think tank event June 28 on the state of the U.S. maritime industrial base and competition with China, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) said he would like to see Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and other Pentagon officials “join a few of us navalists in Congress,” in a room with just a map  “and just in simple terms, have them walk us through their theory of the case for what they think the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] is trying to do. What we need to do to counter.”

Irritated by the limited time lawmakers get to question military leaders during public committee hearings, Gallagher called for better communication between Navy and Marine Corps leaders and congressional supporters during a virtual joint appearance with fellow HASC member, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Virginia), presented by the Hudson Institute.  “So, I’m an advocate for allowing some congressional participation in Navy wargaming this year,” Gallagher said.

Without directly commenting on Gallagher’s idea, Wittman acknowledged “folks want to know and hear more, especially, as Rep. Gallagher said, outside the committee hearing side.”

Wittman and Gallagher joined several senators in introducing the Supplying Help to Infrastructure in Ports, Yards, and America’s Repair Docks (SHIPYARD) Act of 2021 in April. The proposed legislation would provide $25 billion to make investments needed to optimize, improve, and rebuild shipyard facilities, electrical infrastructure, environmental systems, and the equipment of public and private shipyards in the U.S. that support the U.S. Navy fleet.

The act would designate $21 billion for the Navy’s four public shipyards in Virginia, Maine, Hawaii, and Washington, $2 billion for major Navy private new construction shipyards, and $2 billion for Navy private repair shipyards. 

Wittman and Gallagher noted U.S. shipyards were having trouble servicing the current 296-ship fleet and would be insufficient to maintain a 355-ship needed to counter the PLA Navy (PLAN) in China, which now has the world’s largest navy with an overall battle force of 350 ships and submarines.

“We are far behind China in the trajectory of building our Navy. We are far behind China in the shipyard infrastructure that we need,” Wittman said.

He noted the U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2022 budget request seeks only eight ships, but plans to retire 15 ships, seven of them cruisers. “The question is, if you’re going to be reducing the number of ships you build, how do you sustain an industrial base — not just the physical facilities but also the manpower?”

Gallagher said PLAN has grown its battle force by 117 ships since 2005 and over the same period, the U.S. Navy battle force has grown by just five ships.

“That is not the right trendline,” he said.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy’s Air-to-Air Missiles program office (PMA-259) has accepted delivery of the 10,000th AIM-9X Sidewinder air intercept missile for on May 27, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a June 29 release. 

As a joint program with the U.S. Air Force, the Navy-led AIM-9X Block II missile is the most advanced short-range air-to-air missile in the world. The AIM-9X Block II+ missile is one of multiple variants that make up the fifth-generation Infra-red AIM-9X weapon system family. 

“To reach this milestone is a great privilege and showcases our team’s ability to continuously produce and distribute quality products in support of the U.S. warfighter and our international partners,” said Cmdr. Sarah Abbott, PMA-259 deputy program manager for AIM-9X. 

Nearly 3,000 AIM-9X Block II/II+ missiles have been procured on behalf of 25 countries globally. The program’s Foreign Military Sales team has accounted for an average of over 250 FMS missiles procured annually since 2012. 

PMA-259 will join Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona later this year to celebrate this milestone achievement.