SENATORS COLLINS APPLAUDS NAVY DECISION TO ADD EXTRA DESTROYER TO FIVE YEAR BUDGET

U.S. Senator Susan Collins applauds today’s announcement by the Secretary of Defense that the Navy will use some of the $35 billion it identified in overhead savings towards the construction of an additional DDG-51 within the next five years.  Senator Collins, who is a member of the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees, wrote to the Administration in November specifically asking it commit the resources necessary to increase the number of DDG-51’s that the Navy intends to build.  Today’s announcement was made as a part of Secretary Robert Gates’ briefing on the results of the Department of Defense Efficiency Initiatives.   “The fact that the Secretary of Defense is adding a destroyer to the budget at a time when the defense budget is being closely scrutinized, demonstrates the importance of building a Navy fleet that can support our national security objectives.  Increasing the large surface combatant workload also means a guaranteed opportunity for Bath Iron Works to compete to build this ship, and I applaud the Navy for doing the tough work of finding wasteful spending and redirecting it towards higher priorities.  I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress, Secretary Gates, and the Navy’s leadership to reach a construction rate of three ships per year.”    In May, Senator Collins included language in the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that stated that the procurement rate for Navy destroyers was insufficient.  Most recently, Senator Collins wrote a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget in November, urging the Obama Administration to use a portion of the Navy’s efficiency savings to increase the number of destroyers.               The text of the letter is as follows:   Dear Director Zients:   As you prepare the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2012, I write to urge you to commit the resources necessary to increase the procurement rate of DDG-51 destroyers to three ships per year.  This represents an increase of 1.5 ships per year from the Navy’s fiscal year 2011 long-range shipbuilding plan.     There are two important needs that are fulfilled by increasing the DDG-51 procurement rate.  First, for a number of years, the Navy has stated that it needs a 313-ship Navy to fulfill the expected requirements of combatant commanders in support of the national security strategy.   However, the mission requirements of support for irregular warfare, ballistic missile defense, and humanitarian missions have all expanded since the original 313-ship plan was first proposed in 2005.     The bipartisan independent panel tasked with reviewing the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review recommended an increase in naval vessels to preserve U.S. security and economic interests.  The panel, headed by former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, recommend a fleet of 346 Navy ships to preserve U.S. security and economic interests.  A 346-ship Navy would be 64 ships more than the size of the current fleet, and 33 ships more than the Navy’s current goal of 313 ships.   Yet, the current rate of procurement is not sufficient even to meet the 313-ship goal, which the CNO has repeatedly described as the minimum, much less the 346 ships that the independent commission testified is actually needed to meet maritime presence requirements.   Second, increasing the DDG-51 procurement rate in the near term is essential to maintaining a competitive large surface combatant industrial base.  Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, in their committee reports accompanying National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2011, express serious concerns about whether the Navy’s current DDG-51 procurement rate can maintain competition in the industrial base.  The Senate Armed Services Committee Report notes, “In light of the current pressure on the large surface combatant force, the committee is concerned that the Navy’s projected rate of production is insufficient.” The House Armed Services Committee Report states, “The committee has significant concerns whether such an acquisition strategy can sustain a competitive relationship between the two current surface warfare construction yards.”   These statements echo the statements from the presidents of both Bath Iron Works and Ingalls shipyard, who indicate that the Navy’s current procurement rate jeopardizes competition in the large surface combatant construction shipyards.   I understand that you are committed to reducing the budget deficit.  In order to offset the cost of increasing the DDG-51 procurement rate in the next five years, I urge you to use a portion of the $28.3 billion in savings over the next five years that the Navy was required to identify in response to Secretary Gates’ efficiency initiatives.  Secretary Gates included targets of $2 billion in FY12, and $5.3 billion in FY14 for the Navy.  These savings could be directed towards ship modernization.  I know you share a commitment to maintaining a robust naval presence to protect U.S. economic and security interests abroad.  Thank you for your attention to this matter, and for your service to our nation.               ###