Megan Eckstein
Naval warfare reporter
Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.
All Stories By Megan
US Navy’s submarine fleet is too small. Here’s how selling some may help.
The U.S. Navy’s fleet includes 49 attack submarines, despite a formal requirement for 66. It’s also facing crewing and maintenance problems.
What has the AUKUS alliance accomplished in the last year?
Training uniformed personnel is just one piece of a flurry of industrial, legislative and acquisition activity that’s taken place.
Boxer deployment delay highlights aging fleet, lack of repair capacity
The amphibious assault ship had to return to port a week after it deployed.
Navy’s next amphibious ship named for Marines’ Helmand province fight
The Navy will honor the Marines and sailors who served in Afghanistan with the name of the next America-class amphibious ship.
Lawmakers push for two submarines despite US Navy seeking just one
Rep. Joe Courtney led a panel in pushing back against Navy plans to cut a Virginia-class submarine from its fiscal 2025 spending plans.
Navy, Marines launching study to improve readiness of amphibious fleet
The Navy and Marine Corps will dive deep into amphibious ship readiness and how that affects their ability to train sufficiently ahead of deployments.
US Navy ship programs face years-long delays amid labor, supply woes
Most new shipbuilding programs are running one to three years behind schedule, including the Columbia and Virginia subs and the Constellation frigate.
Seeking to make F-35s ready for war, maintainers think outside the box
As the F-35C fleet expands at Naval Air Station Lemoore, the service and a government oversight group worry the jets aren’t available for missions enough.
