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The D Brief: New ‘battleship’ announced
The vessels are to displace some 35,000 tons, three times as much as today’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
December 23, 2025 11:24 AM ET | Bradley Peniston and Ben Watson
Congress supports bare minimum on Navy’s F/A-XX, while fully backing Air Force’s F-47
Appropriators and other lawmakers have pushed for the Navy’s next-gen fighter, but the latest NDAA offers only enough to keep the nascent program warm.
December 9, 2025 | Thomas Novelly
And just like that, the Navy’s frigate program is back on—sort of
The move comes days after Navy Secretary John Phelan canceled the yearslong delayed program.
December 8, 2025 | Lauren C. Williams
Sinking speedboats with a supercarrier: the lopsided cost of Operation Southern Spear
History suggests what happens when the U.S. military outspends a foe by orders of magnitude.
December 7, 2025 | Peter W. Singer
New CNO vows new ‘engine of naval dominance’
It’s “the foundry”—the shore establishment—Adm. Daryl Caudle said at a Monday ceremony.
August 25, 2025 | Lauren C. Williams
China’s burgeoning undersea sensor net aims to turn the ocean transparent
The PLA is building a self-healing “kill web” to surpass today’s brittle kill chains.
October 15, 2025 | Tye Graham and Peter W. Singer
PacFleet is rushing to create new capabilities, operating concepts
Adm. Koehler: “It might sound to you like we’re building the airplane while we fly it. That is no accident.”
October 30, 2025 | Jennifer Hlad
Can partner nations help solve the Navy’s shipbuilding woes?
On a trip through the Pacific, the chief of naval operations sought ways to get more warships faster.
November 24, 2025 | Jennifer Hlad
And just like that, the Navy’s frigate program is back on—sort of
The move comes days after Navy Secretary John Phelan canceled the yearslong delayed program.
December 8, 2025 | Lauren C. Williams
A 3D-printed submarine? Not likely, but maybe something close
The Navy is bumping up its use of additive manufacturing to make critical, delay-prone submarine parts, said Christopher Miller, NAVSEA’s executive director.
February 28, 2025 | Lauren C. Williams
The Navy’s robot refueler is coming—even as the fleet works out integration
The MQ-25 will “unlock” other manned-unmanned teaming, naval aviation leader says.
January 29, 2025 | Bradley Peniston and Lauren C. Williams
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21 Comments
I’m skeptical about the Navy’s F/A-XX program receiving only enough funding to ‘keep the nascent program warm’, as it seems like a lack of commitment to the project’s future.
The fact that the Navy is revisiting the frigate program after its cancellation suggests there’s a recognized need for this type of vessel in the fleet’s composition.
The development of the MQ-25 robot refueler and its potential to ‘unlock’ other manned-unmanned teaming capabilities is an exciting development for naval aviation.
This technology could greatly extend the range and endurance of naval aircraft, providing a significant operational advantage.
The announcement of a new ‘battleship’ that displaces 35,000 tons is a significant development, especially considering it’s three times as much as today’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
China’s undersea sensor net, described as a self-healing ‘kill web’, poses a significant challenge to current naval strategies and requires a thoughtful response from the U.S. and its allies.
This technology could potentially give China a substantial advantage in naval warfare, making it a critical area of focus for U.S. defense strategy.
The mention of a 3D-printed submarine, although unlikely in the near future, highlights the Navy’s interest in innovative manufacturing techniques to improve its fleet.
The Navy’s efforts to leverage additive manufacturing, as seen in the production of submarine parts, could serve as a model for other branches of the military to adopt similar technologies.
The use of additive manufacturing to make critical submarine parts, as discussed by Christopher Miller, could significantly reduce delays and improve the Navy’s submarine fleet readiness.
The contrast between the funding for the Navy’s F/A-XX and the Air Force’s F-47 programs, with the latter receiving full backing, raises questions about the priorities in defense spending.
The fact that the Navy’s frigate program is back on after being canceled by Navy Secretary John Phelan just days prior raises questions about the decision-making process behind these programs.
It seems like a lot of back and forth, I wonder what changed in those few days to revive the program.
The rush to create new capabilities and operating concepts by PacFleet, as mentioned by Adm. Koehler, sounds like a challenging but necessary approach given the current geopolitical landscape.
The concept of a ‘kill web’ as described in the context of China’s undersea sensor net implies a highly integrated and potentially formidable surveillance and response system.
The mention of Operation Southern Spear and its outcomes serves as a reminder of the complexities and challenges involved in military operations, especially when there’s a significant disparity in resources.
Adm. Daryl Caudle’s vision for ‘the foundry’ as a new ‘engine of naval dominance’ is ambitious, but it will be interesting to see how this concept develops and impacts naval operations.
Adm. Koehler’s statement that ‘it might sound to you like we’re building the airplane while we fly it’ accurately captures the challenges and urgency of developing new naval capabilities in a rapidly changing environment.
The idea of partner nations helping to solve the Navy’s shipbuilding woes, as explored by the chief of naval operations, could offer a viable solution to the current delays and capacity issues.
The comparison between the cost of Operation Southern Spear and the results, such as sinking speedboats with a supercarrier, highlights the issue of outspending a foe by orders of magnitude.
The revival of the frigate program, even if ‘sort of’, indicates a continued recognition of the need for versatile and capable surface combatants in the Navy’s fleet.