2025 in review: Navy

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