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It is best not to assign too much meaning to US government budget requests these days, as Congress has failed to enact a defence appropriations bill since 2015.

Instead, the gridlocked lawmakers wind up compromising on merely extending that year’s spending law, with extra money added for a few favourite programmes, such as Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

At this moment, the fiscal year 2018 budget request unveiled by the new Trump administration on 23 May seems an unlikely candidate to buck the trend.

US elections last November solved one of the biggest reasons for the budgetary gridlock, handing control of the White House and the legislature to the same political party for the first time since 2010.

But despite holding the levers of power to pass and approve new legislation, the Republican party has not yet demonstrated an ability to form an internal consensus.

For US and international defence manufacturers, the implications are clear. Any hopes of a “Trump budget” for defence spending must be deferred at least another year and, perhaps, indefinitely. To be optimistic, the good news is that defence spending is not in decline.

If president Donald Trump’s proposed budget is enacted, overall spending authority for the Pentagon would rise by $18 billion compared with this year’s request. For any other military, that would be a fortune, but with the Pentagon approved to spend $585 billion this year, $18 billion is a pittance.

Trump won election after pledging to swell the army by 55,000 troops to 545,000 and the navy by 85 ships to 355. Each of those promises imply the purchase of hundreds more aircraft to equip the new units. However, the new budget request provides no foreseeable path to accomplish either of those objectives.

By budgetary default, the air force is in a slightly better position. Trump’s only campaign promise regarding the service was a modest goal of increasing the number of planned Lockheed Martin F-35As ready for combat operations at any one time to 1,200, essentially the acquisition of a few more dozen Joint Strike Fighters by 2035.

For sure, the US defence industry has weathered harder times. Planned spending levels are enough to keep existing production lines healthy. But military planners have a more ambitious appetite, with a 20-year vision to develop and field new fleets of sixth-generation fighters, high-speed rotorcraft and hypersonic weapons. But the bill for those advanced technologies has yet to arrive.

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In 2016, North Korea conducted about 22 missile launches and two nuclear tests as part of an effort to gain nuclear missile capability. They also served as provocation against its neighbor to the south, the Republic of Korea.

Brig. Gen. David J. Francis told the US Army News Service:

“The concerning part about this is not necessarily that they are doing provocations. What is a problem is they are getting better every time they do a missile test and every time they do a nuclear test.”

Francis, who serves as deputy commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, 8th US Army in South Korea, spoke during the 2017 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.

North Korea, Francis said, is likely looking for a “seat at the table.” And while the North Koreans have a significant conventional threat at their disposal — one of the largest militaries in the world — and a sizable special operations capability as well, he said, “their ability to use it and sustain it over time is very questionable.”

Instead, Francis said, the North Koreans are looking for an “asymmetric capability” that will give them the leverage they need to get that seat at the table. And that includes, he said, having a nuclear capability.

In South Korea, the militaries of the United States and the Republic of Korea are working on ways to counter the threats posed from the north. Aviation is a big part of that, Francis said.

Army aviation units in South Korea now have two mission sets they are focused on: maritime counter-special operations forces, and counter-weapons of mass destruction.

“The primary mission is to defeat that SOF threat before it reaches the mainland” he said.

That counter-SOF mission, he said, has “matured to the point where we have an attack helicopter battalion that for a portion of time works for the 2nd ROK fleet and the 2nd Maritime Battle Group. And their sole purpose for a period of time is to in fact defeat and destroy this threat.”

Conducting that counter-SOF mission, he said, is a multi-domain effort for the Army, partnering traditional land forces with naval forces over land, air and sea.

When it comes to weapons of mass destruction, Francis said, “we know for a fact [North Korea] has multiple locations that have WMD, and those sites are important to us. So while we are conducting direct action, combined arms maneuver to defeat and destroy enemy forces, we are also focused on getting in control of all of those sites that contain WMD.”

Francis said the “Warrior Strike” exercises are enabling the Americans and South Koreans to practice going after such sites together.

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Preparing for North Korea's growing threat, the Pentagon will try to shoot down an intercontinental-range missile for the first time in a test next week. The goal is to more closely simulate a North Korean ICBM aimed at the U.S. homeland, officials said Friday.

The American interceptor has a spotty track record, succeeding in nine of 17 attempts against missiles of less-than-intercontinental range since 1999. The most recent test, in June 2014, was a success, but that followed three straight failures. The system has evolved from the multibillion-dollar effort triggered by President Ronald Reagan's 1983 push for a "Star Wars" solution to ballistic missile threats during the Cold War -- when the Soviet Union was the only major worry.

North Korea is now the focus of U.S. efforts because its leader, Kim Jong Un, has vowed to field a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching American territory. He has yet to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, but Pentagon officials believe he is speeding in that direction.

Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said this week that "left unchecked," Kim will eventually succeed.

The Pentagon has a variety of missile defense systems, but the one designed with a potential North Korean ICBM in mind is perhaps the most technologically challenging. Critics say it also is the least reliable.

The basic defensive idea is to fire a rocket into space upon warning of a hostile missile launch. The rocket releases a 5-foot-long device called a "kill vehicle" that uses internal guidance systems to steer into the path of the oncoming missile's warhead, destroying it by force of impact. Officially known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the Pentagon likens it to hitting a bullet with a bullet.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, which is responsible for developing and testing the system, has scheduled the intercept test for Tuesday.

An interceptor is to be launched from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and soar toward the target, which will be fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. If all goes as planned, the "kill vehicle" will slam into the ICBM-like target's mock warhead high over the Pacific Ocean.

The target will be a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it will fly faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency. The target is not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM.

"We conduct increasingly complex test scenarios as the program matures and advances," Johnson said Friday. "Testing against an ICBM-type threat is the next step in that process."

Officials say this is not a make-or-break test.

While it wasn't scheduled with the expectation of an imminent North Korean missile threat, the military will closely watch whether it shows progress toward the stated goal of being able to reliably shoot down a small number of ICBMs targeting the United States. The Pentagon is thirsting for a success story amid growing fears about North Korea's escalating capability.

"I can't imagine what they're going to say if it fails," said Philip Coyle, senior science fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. He headed the Pentagon's office of operational test and evaluation from 1994 to 2001 and has closely studied the missile defense system.

"These tests are scripted for success, and what's been astonishing to me is that so many of them have failed," Coyle said.

The interceptor system has been in place since 2004, but it has never been used in combat or fully tested. There currently are 32 interceptors in silos at Fort Greely in Alaska and four at Vandenberg, north of Los Angeles. The Pentagon says it will have eight more, for a total of 44, by the end of this year.

In its 2018 budget presented to Congress this week, the Pentagon proposed spending $7.9 billion on missile defense, including $1.5 billion for the ground-based midcourse defense program. Other elements of that effort include the Patriot designed to shoot down short-range ballistic missiles and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the U.S. has installed in South Korea as defense against medium-range North Korean missiles.

The Trump administration has yet to announce its intentions on missile defense.

President Donald Trump recently ordered the Pentagon to undertake a ballistic missile defense review. Some experts argue the current strategy for shooting down ICBM-range missiles, focused on the silo-based interceptors, is overly expensive and inadequate. They say a more fruitful approach would be to destroy or disable such missiles before they can be launched, possibly by cyberattack.

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Jura said:

didn't know US Army aviation efforts in South Korea focused on countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and special forces

source:

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Navy Adds Second Attack Sub to 2021 Plans; Considering 3 SSNs in Future Years

The Navy plans to buy a second Virginia-class attack submarine in Fiscal Year 2021 to keep the industrial base building two SSNs a year even during Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine procurement, several Navy officials confirmed today.

Due to concerns about overwhelming the two sub construction yards – Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat – with too much new work, as the Block V boats are set to include a new Virginia Payload Module section around the same time SSBN construction will begin, the Navy previously planned to buy just one SSN in years it also bought an SSBN. Due to an impending attack sub shortfall, though, Navy plans have continued to up and up the amount of work that could come to the two builders.

“In the past we had anticipated dropping down our submarine construction, our attack submarine construction, during years of the Columbia program procurement,” Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee this morning.
“In fact, we intend to, and we’re laying the groundwork, to sustain [a] two submarine per year procurement rate – because that is our number-one shortfall.”

Acting Navy acquisition chief Allison Stiller told the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee this afternoon that the Navy officially added a second SSN in FY 2021, and that it could even add a third attack boat in 2022 and 2023 – the years in between the first and second Columbia-class boomer.

Stiller explained that a Block V multiyear procurement contract is expected to cover 10 ships from FY 2019 to 2023. Options could be added to that contract to cover additional submarines the Navy may choose to buy as its fleet buildup plans become clearer, pending a Pentagon defense strategy review this spring and summer.

“FY ‘22 and ‘23 are the years we are not building a Columbia, so those are years, when we looked at the future fleet plan, we identified that would be an opportunity to get to three a year,” she told the subcommittee.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told USNI News after the Senate hearing this morning that the Navy desired as many submarines as it could get without breaking the industrial base or breaking the bank.

“As we look at our two submarine builders, Newport News and Electric Boat, we all want to build as much as that team can produce and that we can resource. So that’s sort of the trade space. We’ve done a lot of assessment of that industrial base, we think they can handle it but we don’t want to overload them, so finding that balance point,” he said.

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, talked to the need for more shipbuilding, bigger Navy. … And then there is kind of a consistent support or a declaration of the undersea part of the Navy. So you put all those three things together and it’s hard to find a part of our Navy that we’re more committed to than that.

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Navy’s 2018 Budget Addresses Readiness Through Maintenance, Spares, Infrastructure Improvements

2018 may be the Navy’s opportunity to dig out of a massive readiness hole found in its aviation enterprise and at the public shipyards, with the Pentagon’s budget request focusing on maintenance and readiness spending.

Though acquisition spending is down compared to last year, the service is requesting $51.3 billion for its operations and maintenance budget, compared to $48.2 billion in 2017 and $46.9 billion in 2016. That 6.5 percent increase includes $2.5 billion more for air operations and $4 billion more for ship operations.

On the ship side, the Navy is looking to increase is public shipyard workforce from 33,850 full-time equivalent workers to 34,988, or a 3.4 percent increase, “to increase shipyard throughput,” the Navy’s budget highlights book notes.

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Future USS Gerald R. Ford Returns From Acceptance Trials

The future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) successfully completed acceptance trials conducted by the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) in the Atlantic Ocean May 24-26 and is in final preparations for delivery.

Acceptance trials are primarily aimed at demonstrating to INSURV the ability of the ship's crew to conduct operations at sea, and that the ship is constructed in accordance with contract specifications.

Footage of Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) on the second day of acceptance trials.
Acceptance trials are primarily aimed at demonstrating to INSURV the ability of the ship's crew to conduct operations at sea, and that the ship is constructed in accordance with contract specifications.

"Congratulations to our Navy and industry team for all the great work that has led us to this exciting milestone," said Rear Adm. Brian Antonio, program executive officer for aircraft carriers. "As a result of much dedication and hard work, delivery of CVN 78 is close at hand, and we are looking forward to commissioning the ship into the fleet this summer."

Prior to the underway period, INSURV conducted a rigorous set of pierside trials, including more than 200 in-port demonstrations and inspections. The three-day at-sea portion of acceptance trials also included more than 500 INSURV demonstrations and inspections of the ship's hull, mechanical and electrical systems.

The Navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair is responsible for ensuring the ship's readiness for acceptance trials and presenting the ship to INSURV. The ship's crew is responsible for operating the ship and conducting tests and demonstrations. INSURV oversees and witnesses the execution of the acceptance trials schedule.

CVN 78 is the lead ship in the Ford class of aircraft carriers, the U.S. Navy's first new aircraft carrier design in more than 40 years, which will begin the phased replacement of Nimitz-class carriers when the ship is commissioned. CVN 78 is designed with significant quality-of-life improvements and reduced maintenance requirements. Several new technologies, such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, Advanced Arresting Gear, and Dual Band Radar have been incorporated into the Ford's design. These innovations are expected to improve operational availability and capability, and reduce total ownership cost over its 50-year service life by nearly $4 billion compared with Nimitz-class carriers. CVN 78 honors the 38th president of the United States and pays tribute to his lifetime of service to the nation in the Navy and in the U.S. government.

Construction of CVN 78 has been ongoing since 2008, with the island landed in January 2013. The ship was christened in November 2013 by the ship's sponsor, Susan Ford Bales, daughter of President Ford. The ship's crew conducted a pierside "fast cruise" in March 2017, and builder's sea trials occurred in April 2017.

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WASHINGTON approaching

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Naval Base 30 March as she headed out for trials

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Washington (SSN 787) delivered to the Navy

The Navy accepted delivery of Washington (SSN 787), the 14th submarine of the Virginia-class, May 26. Washington is the fourth of eight Virginia-class Block III submarines and the seventh of the class to be delivered to the Navy by Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. Washington began construction in September 2011 and will be commissioned later this year in Norfolk, Virginia. The submarine's sponsor is Elisabeth Mabus, daughter of the 75th Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.

"Washington's delivery continues our commitment to deliver Virginia-class submarines within budget and ready to deploy and execute Fleet tasking," said Capt. Mike Stevens, Virginia-class Submarine Program Manager."

Washington will be the third U.S. Navy ship, and first submarine, to be commissioned with a name honoring the State of Washington. The previous two ships were an armored cruiser, (ACR-11), which served under the name from 1905 to 1916, and a World War II battleship (BB-56), decommissioned in 1947.

Washington successfully completed the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) trials earlier this month receiving a score of 96 out of 100, the highest score to date on any new construction Virginia-class submarine. The INSURV board conducts acceptance trials of ships and service craft for the purpose of determining the quality of construction, compliance with specifications and Navy requirements.

Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow, which replaces 12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. This, among other design changes, reduced the submarines' acquisition cost while maintaining their outstanding warfighting capabilities.

Virginia-class submarines are built to operate in the world's littoral and deep waters while conducting anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface ship warfare; strike warfare; special operation forces support; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare missions. Their inherent stealth, endurance, mobility, and firepower directly enable them to support five of the six maritime strategy core capabilities - sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security, and deterrence.

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