Navy Shipbuilding Plan: 85 New Ships @ $1 Trillion
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A Congressional Budget Office analysis estimates that the US Navy’s total shipbuilding costs would average about $40 billion per year (in 2024 dollars) through 2054, reports Navy Times. The service wants to expand its fleet of battle force ships to 381 to face growing global threats. The Navy’s 2025 plan would have the service buy fewer next-generation attack submarines and large surface combatants and more current-generation ships, according to the analysis.
President-elect Donald Trump said the US should outsource its production of ships if it can’t keep up with the need, reports Fox News. “We don’t build ships anymore. We used to build a ship a day. We don’t build ships anymore. We want to get that started. And maybe we’ll use allies, also, in terms of building ships. We might have to,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Former Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown is Trump’s choice to serve as the head of cemetery and memorial affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs, reports Military Times. Brown, a West Point alum, served in the Army. He was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device while deployed in Afghanistan.
The US Defense Department is sending additional personnel and capabilities to California to assist with the wildfires spreading across Los Angeles and the southern part of the state, reports The Hill.
Along with coverage of the wildfires in Southern California are images of red clouds being released from tankers enveloping trees and hillsides. Air tankers are dropping thousands of gallons of red flame retardant in an attempt to limit the devastation from the fires, leaving some to wonder what it is and what’s in it, reports NPR. “It’s primarily a product called Phos-Chek LC95, which is sold by a company called Perimeter,” Daniel McCurry, an associate professor at the University of Southern California. “It’s basically a mixture of water, fertilizer, and then the red color that you see is just rust.”
A Canadian “Super Scooper” aircraft fighting the fires had to be grounded Thursday after it hit a drone flying in restricted airspace, reports CNN via MSN. The specifically designed CL-415 firefighting planes are used to scoop up more than 1,500 gallons of ocean water to drop on active fires.
Chinese internet company Tencent has been designated as a “Chinese military company” by the Defense Department, reports The Hill. The firm is known for its WeChat app and investments in Reddit, Snap, and Fortnite creator Epic Games. The listing has no legal consequences beyond barring US government contractors from doing business with Tencent starting in 2026.
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are boosting their amphibious naval fleets to repel China, reports Defense News. For example, Australia is overhauling its amphibious capacity, and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is set to receive 10 new landing craft by the end of fiscal 2027.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike have supported the Pentagon’s recent work around Asia as concerns about China’s military rise. Defense News says that the return of Trump, a president less personally committed to US allies, will test that work’s endurance.
Chinese company Pudu Robotics has unveiled its D9 humanoid robot, reports Fox News. The robots stands 5.57 feet tall, can walk up stairs, carry heavy loads, and walk 4.5 miles an hour. With the introduction of the D9, Pudu Robotics enters a competitive field alongside giants such as Tesla and Unitree.
The Navy has declared initial operational capability for the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band system, reports Seapower Magazine, bringing a quantum leap in capability over legacy systems with drastic increases in power, target flexibility, and jamming technique for naval aviation operations all over the world.
The Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will bear the historic Intrepid name, NavSec Carlos Del Toro announced last week, reports Navy Times. It will be the fifth Navy vessel to be named Intrepid.
Rules for giving certain types of names to certain types of Navy ships have evolved over time, reports USNI News. Members of Congress recently received a report on Navy ship names. There have been exceptions to the Navy’s ship-naming rules, particularly for the purpose of naming a ship for a person when the rule for that type of ship would have called for it to be named for something else.
A group of Maryland state lawmakers have introduced eight bills to overhaul military law, reports WBAL TV News. Sen. Bryan Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) said that the set of bills has no opposition and can be accomplished with no additional cost to taxpayers. “It establishes consistent and equal benefits among all eight branches of the uniform services,” Simonaire said.
Maryland senators are being asked to prioritize legislation they sponsor after passing a new rule Thursday that puts a cap of as few as 20 bills per senator, reports Maryland Matters. The goal is to ease the workload of committees that have been crushed by the number of bills introduced in recent years.
The 447th session of the Maryland General Assembly convened at noon Jan. 8, and there were already more than 245 bills pre-filed, reports afro.com. According to available data, roughly 2,800 bills are introduced across both chambers each session.
The US Space Force will soon field a new ground-based satellite communications jammer designed to disrupt signals from enemy spacecraft, reports C4ISRNET. Space Operations Command has approved the Remote Modular Terminals for initial fielding, which will be in the hands of military users imminently.
On Friday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced the presumptive detection of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or bird flu, in a Caroline County commercial broiler flock, reports WBOC CBS News. This is Maryland’s first case of H5N1 in a commercial flock since 2023, and the third detection in the Delmarva region in the last 30 days. On Jan. 3, the Delaware Department of Agriculture announced the recent detection of bird flu on a Kent County farm.
The MDA had issued an order Thursday requiring specific handling, transport, and storage of poultry litter due to the bird flu. MDA had previously issued updated guidance urging dairy cattle and poultry farmers to implement enhanced biosecurity measures as the bird flu was found in wild birds along the Atlantic Flyway, WBOC had reported last month.
Contracts:
Systems & Technology Research LLC, Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $9,655,532 modification (P00017) to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR001123C0095 to exercise the Phase Four option of the Joint All-Domain Warfighting Software program. Phase Four efforts will build upon and extend the orchestration services, predictive analytics, and user interfaces developed during the first three program phases. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $44,030,822 from $34,375,290. Work will be performed in Woburn, Massachusetts (40%); Carlsbad, California (40%); Arlington, Virginia (10%); and Portland, Oregon (10%), with an estimated completion date of January 2026. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $815,500 are being obligated at the time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Modern Technology Solutions Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $99,954,309 Phase III Small Business Innovation Research cost and cost-plus-fixed fee contract for reports done by Program Management Office and Systems Engineering, Integration and Testing personnel. This contract provides for prototyping and delivering processes for space command and control. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 9, 2030. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,689,795; and fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $624,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Space Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA8806-25-C-B001).
Culmen International LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, was issued a contract modification in the amount of $21,634,260 (HDTRA1-24-C-0033) for Threat Reduction Logistics Services for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in support of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Directorate. The principal place of performance is Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The work provides logistics services across the Cooperative Threat Reduction portfolio including the Biological Threat Reduction Program, Chemical Security and Elimination, Global Nuclear Security, Strategic Offensive Arms Elimination, the Proliferation Prevention Program, and other assessments and administrative costs. The initial award resulted from a sole source acquisition. DTRA solicited for one proposal and received one proposal. Funds in the amount of $6,153,625 are to be obligated at the time of award. Work is expected to be completed by July 2025. DTRA, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
