The U.S. Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), is underway near Hilo, Hawaii, Nov. 16, 2021.

The U.S. Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), is underway near Hilo, Hawaii, Nov. 16, 2021. U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Greg Hall

The Naval Brief: ‘Gut-check’ wargame; Call for federal manufacturing help; Failed defense audit; and more...

Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future. 

On the right path? Senior naval leaders attended a Pacific-centric wargame this week that examined whether they are correctly shaping capabilities and platforms for a conflict in the region, Defense One reports. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday called it a “gut check” for them. The analysis for the wargame will take place over the coming months. 

Send help. A new think tank report warns that the federal government needs to train two million more workers in the next eight years and invest $100 billion per year in manufacturing—or risk the economy falling behind China, Defense One reports. The lack of investment and training could make it hard for the United States to confront national security threats from China.

Four Fs. The Pentagon failed its fourth straight audit but said it was still making steady progress towards one day obtaining a clean accounting, Defense One reports. The Navy Department found $959 million in material that it had not recorded in its property systems. 

Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On this day in 1889, the battleship USS Maine launched from New York Navy Yard. Several years later an explosion aboard the ship while it was docked in Cuba led to the start of the Spanish-American war. 


From Defense One

Biden Launches Arms-Control Talks with China, Warns Xi on Taiwan // Patrick Tucker: Beijing’s aggression toward the island, nuclear ambitions are big points of worry for the administration.

Pentagon Scrambles to Defend ‘Juicy Targets’ After Rivals’ Space Tests // Tara Copp: U.S. Space Force is taking Russia’s destruction of its own satellite as a warning.

Rising Inflation Is Beginning to Worry Pentagon Leaders // Marcus Weisgerber: Higher salaries and more expensive weapons looming large as the Defense Department assembles next budget proposal.