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20 Mar 2018
US Navy: 355-Ship Fleet is the Mandate, Funding It is Fuzzy
As Congress wrestles with the budget, there is at least a bipartisan consensus that defense spending should grow, and that includes growing the Navy’s fleet. The current goal is 355 ships, an admirable goal, but an objective that faces many cost hurdles. The surface fleet (which excludes submarines and aircraft carriers) needs to grow in capability and capacity. The numbers of ships being procured or envisions would increase as the total n umber of ships increases…
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30 Jan 2018
The U.S. Navy's Fundamental Problem
A series of mishaps at sea has prompted the U.S. Navy to examine the way it conducts business. The accidents shared some similar contributing causes such as fundamental watchstanding and seamanship, and each of these incidents were preventable. The four incidents involved surface combatants in the Seventh Fleet area of responsibility. • On January 31, 2017, the Yokosuka-based Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Antietam…
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11 Oct 2017
Inside the USS Gerald R. Ford
President Donald Trump addressed the more than 10,000 people attending the ceremony where the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), was commissioned on Saturday, July 22 in Norfolk, Va. “Wherever this vessel cuts through the horizon, our allies will rest easy and our enemies will shake with fear because everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong,” said Trump.
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09 Jun 2017
US Navy: Bigger is Better, but at What Cost?
The U.S. Navy has a balanced fleet, but it wants to grow bigger and better. Will the budget allow both? Maritime Reporter's March 2017 cover story on the U.S. Navy was all about the numbers. There exists several plans to grow the fleet beyond the current number of 308 ships, the Mitre recommendation of 414 ships, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment 340-ship proposal, and the Navy’s decision to grow the fleet to 355 ships, and the Trump administration’s 350.
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21 Apr 2017
OPTECH South 2017: Littoral Challenges in Colombia
Naval experts from around the world are meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Operations and Technology (OPTECH) South 2017 conference. The event is being conducted by the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Littoral Operations Center (LOC), supported by the Office of Naval Research-Global and the Colombian Naval Science and Technology Office and Swedish defense company Saab. The littoral is the complex “near shore” environment where hydrography…
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22 Mar 2017
Trump's Navy: A Look at the Future US Navy
It’s still too early to know for certain what the new administration will do about building up the U.S. Navy, as the numbers are a moving target. But with President Trump’s recent pledge to add $54 billion to defense spending, it’s a safe bet to make that the fleet will grow. So let’s start with the numbers. There are different ways to count the fleet size, including whether or not you count auxiliaries, but let’s use this number as the baseline: There are 274 ships in the U.S. Navy now.
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02 Nov 2016
Motor City Welcomes Navy’s Newest Ship
USS Detroit (LCS 7) was commissioned in its namesake city of Detroit on October 22. Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, officially placed the vessel in commission. "Today is about service. Cmdr. Michael P. Desmond, who command LCS Crew 108 “Ghost Riders,” assumed command of Detroit. "USS Detroit is truly blessed to have the opportunity to commission in its namesake city. Speakers included Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Sens.
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02 Nov 2016
World’s Most High-tech Ship Enters Service
USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), representing the newest class of surface combatant, was commissioned on October 15 in ceremonies at Baltimore. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was the principal speaker. “This ship is an example of a larger initiative to increase operational stability and give the U.S. a strategic advantage,” he said. “Our Navy and our Marine Corps, uniquely, provide presence – around the globe…
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03 Oct 2016
Choke Points are Flash Points
The world is closely watching several contentious flash points that have potential to ignite. The behavior and rhetoric of China and Russia regarding vital shipping lanes in international waters have been alarming. Disputed sovereignty claims and efforts to enforce them have the maritime world on edge. China’s nine-dash line claims about owning the entire East and South China Sea have created a dilemma for themselves and the other nations in the region. The Philippines v.
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01 Jun 2016
Port Business: Is Bigger Better?
Every port is different. But the harbor masters meeting in Vancouver this week are finding they all have much in common. “We all are dealing with issues of efficiency, the environment, and security and how to develop our ports to best accommodate our customers today and in the future,” says Capt. Kevin Richardson, president of the International Harbour Masters’ Association (IHMA) and a retired chief harbor master at the Port of Dover in the U.K.
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18 May 2016
Maritime Leaders Convene in the Caribbean
Representatives from all aspects of the maritime shipping industry met in Cocoa Beach, Fla., May 16-18 for the Caribbean Shipping Associations’ (CSA) Shipping Executives Conference.
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08 Mar 2016
SNMG2 Expands into Waters of Greece and Turkey
The German flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) FGS BONN is the first NATO ship to enter the area of activity for a first patrol around the Greek island of Lesbos. Over the weekend, NATO had expanded the area of activity into the territorial waters of Turkey and Greece, in close coordination with both Allies. NATO also expanded its cooperation with the EU’s border agency Frontex. “We are able to support the local authorities with our sensors, amplifying their capabilities.
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25 Feb 2016
Navy Competes for Resources at Home, against Asymmetric Threats Abroad
The U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Adm. The document presents Richardson’s priorities with four “lines of effort” to strengthen naval power at and from the sea; achieve high velocity learning at every level; strengthen our Navy team for the future’ and expand and strengthen our network of partners. It isn’t an earth-shattering document, and perhaps is most telling for what it doesn’t say, as opposed to what is says.
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17 Feb 2016
Navy Forum Connects Large and Small Business
For the past 15 years, the Department of the Navy’s “Forum for SBIR/STTR Transition” (FST) – the nation’s premier small business technology venue – takes a major step forward in allying with the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition (S-A-S) on 16-18 May 2016 at the Gaylord National Harbor near Washington, D.C. “Our collaboration with the Navy League marries the most significant large and small business marketplaces for defense technology…
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03 Dec 2015
Littoral OP Tech East - Examining Coastal Operations
EXPERTS from navies, academia and industry are meeting in Tokyo to examine the unique challenges of operating in the littoral or coastal environment. The Littoral OPTECH East workshop is being held in Tokyo, Japan this week with the academic leadership of the Littoral Operations Center (LOC) at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. OPTECH East has the support of the U.S. Office of Naval Research Global…
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28 Oct 2015
Maritime Security in Focus in the Caribbean
Puerto Rico, centrally located at the crossroads of the Caribbean, is the location of Maritime Security 2015 Caribbean currently underway in the busy port city of San Juan. The keynote addresses were delivered by Ingrid Colberg-Rodriguez, executive director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, and Capt. Michael Zamperini, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector San Juan. Attendees included representatives from federal agencies…
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19 Aug 2015
Maritime Security Experts Convene in San Diego
Maritime security experts from federal, state and local jurisdictions are meeting in San Diego this week as part of Maritime Security 2015 West. Attendees from Turkey, Japan, United Arab Emirates, France, U.K., and New Zealand joined participants from across the U.S. and Canada to examine challenges and share solutions. A special tour of the Unified Port of San Diego was conducted to offer a glimpse…
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20 Jul 2015
Naval Symposium Examines Ship Capabilities, Career Options
The annual Surface Navy Association (SNA) West Coast Symposium was held on the waterfront at Naval Station San Diego on July 16, and provided attendees an update on some key operational and career developments important to the surface warfare community. Capt. Mark Johnson, president of the SNA San Diego Chapter, was the host and master of ceremonies for the symposium. Capt. Warren Buller, commander of LCS Squadron 1…
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08 Jul 2015
Maritime Security Experts Meet in Cleveland
For maritime security experts, there were many lessons learned after the 2011 Republican National Convention in Tampa. That’s why those experts are meeting now in Cleveland, the site of the 2016 RNC to learn from the professionals who planned and executed the maritime safety and security efforts for the Tampa event. The Republican and Democratic conventions are considered national special security events (NSSE)…
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22 Jun 2015
Driving Innovation: the Unmanned FLNG
DNV GL developed a new unmanned floating LNG concept that it claims overcomes many of the challenges faced by operators looking to unlock the potential of remote offshore gas fields. Called Solitude, DNV GL said the concept demonstrates how technological advances can be combined into a solution that offers an estimated 20% reduction in annual OPEX, only adding a few percent increase in CAPEX and at the same time increasing overall safety.