Us Navy Ship Number Increase Goal Announced

[bfng3569]

On 6/11/2025 at 9:07 PM, Josh said:

They represent a one time large scale strike that could be substituted for a half dozen B-52s. The next SSGNs will be block V virginias, but there will be a capability gap.

B-52's aren't surprising anyone and adding in the payload module is pushing them to 460 ft, 100 feet shorter than ohio.

May be a pipe dream, but a purpose built SSGN based on the Columbia class would be nice to see.

[lucklucky]

Troubles continue, now the next carrier is delayed 2 years.

https://news.usni.org/2025/07/07/carrier-john-f-kennedy-delivery-delayed-2-years-fleet-will-drop-to-10-carriers-for-1-year

It seems the  weapon elevators and emals are still not working well.

[Stuart Galbraith]

This is 8 years after the first of class entered service, and they are still having problems?

[kokovi]

US ship building is not exactly up to modern standards.

[Ol Paint]

Please, do tell us what the modern standard is for building a nuclear aircraft carrier with EMALS and other comparable systems.

Keep in mind that China's Fujian was laid down in 2015 and hasn't delivered, yet.  

Doug 

[Ol Paint]

This seems like the best thread for this article:

https://news.usni.org/2025/09/05/subic-bay-shipyard-re-opens-after-u-s-south-korean-investments

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The yard’s reactivation will bolster Philippine annual shipbuilding output from 1.3 million to 2.5 million deadweight tons and employ up to 4,300 Filipinos by 2030, according to Marcos. The Philippine president also stated the yard’s capabilities will increase the country’s large oil tanker production from five to eight vessels a year.

“For the Philippines, the Subic shipyard will position your country as an emerging power in the global shipbuilding market while also providing the momentum to expedite your smoother and swifter accent into the ranks of the world leading economies,” Kim Sung-Joon, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Shipbuilding CEO, said.

Located within the former Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines complex, another South Korean shipbuilder that declared bankruptcy in 2019, the shipyard was the focus of a U.S.-Chinese bidding battle that eventually saw American investment firm Cerberus Capital Management secure the strategically-positioned shipyard.

HD HHI Philippines is the latest tenant of the complex, renamed by Cerberus as Agila Subic, joining the Philippine Navy, American defense contractor Vecturus and submarine cable firm SubCom. Its inauguration also marks the latest development within the former American naval base, following recent moves from Washington to bring a U.S. Marine Corps prepositioning site and munitions plant to Subic Bay.

While only commercial ships were highlighted during the inaugural event, Hyundai has eyed the use of Subic Bay as a site to produce warships for the Philippines and regional clients. Manila has prioritized the South Korean shipbuilder for its naval modernization program amid tensions in the South China Sea with Beijing.

Good.

Doug

[Ol Paint]

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Last U.S. Avenger Mine Countermeasure Ship in Middle East Decommissions

Mallory Shelbourne

September 25, 2025 6:21 PM

The last Avenger-class mine countermeasure ship left naval service in the Middle East this week, U.S. 5th Fleet announced Thursday.

The Navy formally said goodbye to the wooden mine countermeasure ships during a decommissioning ceremony for USS Devastator (MCM-6) in Bahrain, where the ships have been based since 2012.

“For more than three decades, USS Devastator, USS Dextrous, USS Gladiator and USS Sentry have been critical to maritime missions around the globe – defending the freedom of navigation, promoting stability and deterring and defeating efforts by adversaries to harm the innocent,” 5th Fleet commander Vice Adm. George Wikoff said in the news release. “To all, past and present, who have served on [these ships], thank you for standing the watch, being true trailblazers in the fleet and maintaining a constant presence in our area of operations… What a proud legacy you leave in your wake.”

The four MCM ships will be brought back to the East Coast in the coming months, according to a Defense Department contract announcement released Wednesday. The Navy issued Sealift Inc. of Delaware a $7 million contract “for a voyage charter of one foreign flag vessel for the transportation of four Avenger Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels to support Department of Defense transportation requirements,” according to the announcement. The contract’s work will begin this month and wrap up in February.

Several Independent-class Littoral Combat Ships each outfitted with a mine countermeasure mission package will now operate out of Bahrain to fulfill the role previously performed by the Avenger-class ships, USNI News has previously reported. USS Canberra (LCS-30) arrived in Bahrain in May as the first LCS.

As of Monday, Canberra, USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) and USS Tulsa (LCS-16) were in 5th Fleet. The Navy has said a total of four LCSs will operate out of Bahrain, but has not named the fourth ship.

The last four Avengers MCMs are in service at U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan.

https://news.usni.org/2025/09/25/last-u-s-avenger-mine-countermeasure-ship-in-middle-east-decommissions

Last wooden ships in USN service, aside from the Constitution?  I think there are some wooden YPs still in service with the USNA, but those are classed as "craft" and are being replaced by the YP-703s, which are steel.

Doug

[Ol Paint]

https://news.usni.org/2025/09/29/bollinger-awarded-contract-for-first-navy-landing-ship-medium

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Gulf Coast-based Bollinger Shipyards won a $9.5 million contract to build the first Landing Ship Medium, according to a Defense Department announcement.

The contract, issued late Friday, is for advanced procurement funding so the shipyard can buy long lead items for Block I of the McClung-class ships for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Bollinger is slated to finish the work in two years, by the end of Fiscal Year 2027, according to the contract announcement.

Contract award finally catches up with Del Toro's naming spree.  Sorta, since it's only advanced procurement.

Doug

[Ivanhoe]

https://www.wtkr.com/news/in-the-community/newport-news/100-furloughed-newport-news-shipbuilding-workers-laid-off-hii-spokesperson
 

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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Around a third of the workers furloughed by HII's Newport News Shipbuilding division earlier this year will be laid off, according to an HII spokesperson.

“We have made the difficult decision to move forward with a reduction in force of about a third of the 471 salaried shipbuilders at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division who were put on furlough back in June. This decision comes after careful review of our salaried workforce and business needs," the HII spokesperson said.

 

I've not seen the phrase "salaried shipbuilders" before. I usta know a bunch of folks who worked at NNS. Folks in the trades were hourly, folks in offices were salaried. 

 

[futon]

There's been attention to policy/human resources reasons as to why the ship building is less than desired. 

Is it posdible that there are bottlenecks in material resources as well such as batreries or GaN?

[Ivanhoe]

Commander Salamander weighs anchor, er, in;

https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/hii-and-hhi-partner-to-save-usns
 

Quote

 

We all know we are behind in the “unsexy but important” auxiliaries for any kind of war west of the International Date Line. We all know the shortcomings of the U.S. shipbuilding industry, and the parade of poor performance this century from NAVSEA.

Welcome the help. Encourage the effort. Get hulls displacing water sooner rather than later..

 

The post mentions the Soyang class of fast combat support ships;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyang-class_fast_combat_support_ship

I would like to see them squeeze a higher cruise speed out of the joint development ship, given the transit times from CONUS to hotspots. 

[Ol Paint]

On 7/8/2025 at 5:46 AM, Ol Paint said:

Please, do tell us what the modern standard is for building a nuclear aircraft carrier with EMALS and other comparable systems.

Keep in mind that China's Fujian was laid down in 2015 and hasn't delivered, yet.  

Doug 

Fujian has now delivered.  Actual milestone dates are difficult to determine, but we're basically looking at 10 year build cycle for a Forrestal/Kitty Hawk equivalent (e.g. state of the art for a conventional CATOBAR supercarrier and similar tonnage). 

The Type 004, which is reputed to be in the 120k ton range and nuclear powered apparently had her keel laid at the end of October.  It'll be interesting to see how that ship progresses.

In the meantime, the US shipbuilding industry continues to be sold out:

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Report: Korean Yard to Build US-Flag Tankers

November 6, 2025

Business Korea reports that two tankers built at domestic Korean yard K Shipbuilding will be delivered under the U.S. flag and able to trade within the US.

Construction will begin on the two 50,000dwt medium range tankers early next year for delivery in 2027.

They will transport crude oil and LNG after Greek shipping company Stealthgas transferred the order to its U.S. subsidiary, reports Business Korea, citing sources. Construction will be supervised by ABS.

More companies are expected to follow suit.

https://www.marinelink.com/news/report-korean-yard-build-usflag-tankers-532121

I would point out that NASSCo built a series of 50,000dwt product tankers (Korean designed, lots of imported equipment, but built in San Diego) on a cadence of 12-14 months keel laying to delivery.  Contract issued 31 May 2013, first ship laid down 6 March 2015 and delivered on 4 Dec 2015.  The eighth and final ship in the series delivered on 7 June 2017.  But I'm sure someone will be along to say that the Koreans do it so much faster and how we need to offshore more work to build up our domestic industry...

Doug

Edited November 10 by Ol Paint

[Ol Paint]

A bit tardy, but Austal USA is apparently struggling with their transition to steel shipbuilding.  The ATS program has been truncated from 5 hulls to 3 as part of a REA.

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https://maritime-executive.com/article/austal-and-us-navy-revise-contract-in-program-building-first-steel-ships

Austal and US Navy Revise Contract in Program Building First Steel Ships

First vessel of the class was floated out in June 2025 (Austal)

Published Oct 1, 2025 7:35 PM by The Maritime Executive

Austal and the U.S. Navy reached an agreement to resolve a pricing issue related to the first steel hull ships Austal USA is building for the Navy. Nearly a year after the company filed a “Request for Equitable Adjustment,” it reports that they have agreed to build only three of the five contracted ships with limited alteration to the overall original contract value.

The program for the vessels known as T-ATS (Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship) was originally awarded to Austal in September 2021 and was largely seen as a trial for the builder, which had worked in aluminum to convert to the Navy’s plan to move back to entirely steel construction. The initial contract was for two vessels valued at $145 million and followed an initial $3.6 million for the functional design of the class.

Austal noted at the time that it was seeking other steel construction projects and won support from the U.S. Navy for the construction of its new steel capabilities in Mobile, Alabama. The U.S. Navy expanded the project with two more hulls in July 2022, adding $156 million to the contract price. A fifth vessel was added to the contract in June 2023 at an additional $79 million. The total project was valued at approximately $380 million.

This does come shortly after additional Coast Guard OPC contract options were exercised in September, as well as announcements that Austal was going to be building submarine modules.

Doug

[PaulFormerlyinSaudi]

Just by the way, how do we stand on the aerial tanker fleet? After 9-11, a KC-135 replacement was considered our #1 priority, and with good  reason. So the USAF picked the Airbus and then the lawsuits commenced.  Can any acquisition program reach the goal line? 

[Stuart Galbraith]

All the KC10's have gone now as well. Thought after the Fedex Crash, they wouldnt be flying now anyway.

[Ol Paint]

Enuf talk of puny KC-135s and KC-10s!  Let's talk about those grate steal leviathans that tank for Sam, regardless of bonus.

To wit, two more T-AO oilers added to NASSCO's order books:

Quote

https://www.workboat.com/general-dynamics-nassco-awarded-1-7-billion-to-build-two-john-lewis-class-fleet-replenishment-oilers

November 12, 2025

General Dynamics NASSCO awarded $1.7 billion to build two John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oilers

General Dynamics NASSCO has been awarded a $1.7 billion contract for the construction of two additional John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oilers, T-AO 215 and T-AO 216, under its ongoing multi-ship agreement with the U.S. Navy.

The San Diego-based shipbuilder, a business unit of General Dynamics, is now under contract to build 17 of the Navy’s 20-ship program of record and has delivered four oilers to date.

“The T-AO program holds significant importance to the men and women of NASSCO and is one we take great pride in—it’s the longest running Navy production series in NASSCO history,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “The timely funding for these two ships will act to stabilize the workforce by sustaining an important backlog and prevent future layoffs. Our entire NASSCO team is honored to continue to support the critical national security mission of the U.S. Navy.”

The Navy first awarded NASSCO a contract in 2016 to design and build six John Lewis-class fleet oilers. The contract was later modified in 2022 to include three more vessels (T-AO 211–213), and in 2024 expanded again with an eight-ship deal covering T-AO 214 through 221.

These ships are designed to transfer fuel to U.S. Navy vessels operating at sea, providing critical underway replenishment capability to the fleet. Each 742’x106’ oiler has a full-load displacement of 49,850 tons, and can carry 162,000 bbls. of oil along with dry cargo and aviation support. The vessels draw 33.5’ and operate at speeds up to 20 knots.

NASSCO currently has five John Lewis-class oilers under construction in its San Diego shipyard. Company officials said continued production of the T-AO series supports both the Navy’s fleet readiness and the stability of the shipyard’s skilled workforce.

Doug

[sunday]

50,000 tons? That is puny for a tanker!

[Ol Paint]

True, not a VLCC.  On the upper end of the size range for oilers, being 10k tons larger than the RFA Tide-class and around 8k tons larger than the Kaiser-class they replace, for instance.

That's one reason I am not particularly enamored of the proposed light oilers being proposed.

Doug 

[Ivanhoe]

16 hours ago, Ol Paint said:

To wit, two more T-AO oilers added to NASSCO's order books:

Exactly what America needs to support its colonizationpeacekeeping forces. 😃

Strange thought; does the USN have the equipment in hand for pumping POL from an oiler to a fixed storage tank on shore? It occurred to me that an ally might either run out of ready-to-go fuels due to high-intensity ops, or have pipeline/storage infrastructure taken out by sabotage or UCAV strikes. 

[Ol Paint]

6 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

Exactly what America needs to support its colonizationpeacekeeping forces. 😃

Strange thought; does the USN have the equipment in hand for pumping POL from an oiler to a fixed storage tank on shore? It occurred to me that an ally might either run out of ready-to-go fuels due to high-intensity ops, or have pipeline/storage infrastructure taken out by sabotage or UCAV strikes. 

https://www.twz.com/29987/this-old-tanker-looks-like-its-about-to-sink-but-its-just-doing-its-job-for-the-marines

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Petersburg is one of five Offshore Petroleum Discharge System (OPDS) tankers that were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s that eventually found themselves assigned to the Ready Reserve Force. The tiny fleet was divided between three classes. Today, SS Petersburg is the last of the OPDSs, with her sistership SS Chesapeake, having been taken out of service in 2009.  

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The USMC currently relies on a number of methods for moving vast amounts of fuel from ship to shore. Remember that without gas, the modern Corps can’t fight and all of its vehicles and generator-dependent systems require copious amounts of fuel on a daily basis. A single new commercial ship under Military Sealift Command’s control, the MV Vice Adm. K.R. Wheeler, was introduced in 2007 to accomplish a similar role as SS Petersburg, but it is not a tanker and relies on other vessels to supply the fuel, acting as a node for transferring it from their holds to shore. 

https://www.maritime.dot.gov/multimedia/ss-petersburg-t-aot-9101

Yet more capabilities that desperately need recapitalization--10 years ago.  If I had my way, we'd have an active program to modify the T-AO 205 design or MLP/ESB/ESD design to provide a number of these kinds of specialist capabilities--petroleum discharge, crane ships, etc.  Not to mention active programs to build LMSR and FSS replacements.

Doug

[Ivanhoe]

I knew it!

Why am I not SecNav?