The Pentagon’s funding request for Navy shipbuilding for fiscal 2013 released yesterday is down by more than $1 billion from the current spending year, but did not reflect the plan to delay construction on two Littoral Combat Ships and a Virginia-class attack submarine. That will instead take place later in the five-year shipbuilding plan.
The Navy is seeking $13.5 billion for shipbuilding or about $1.4 billion less than Congress appropriated for fiscal 2012, which ends Sept. 30. Overall, the Pentagon is asking for $43.9 billion for Navy and Marine Corps acquisition, including $17.3 billion for aircraft-about $850 million less than this year’s amount.
The Navy’s spending proposal was released as part of the Pentagon’s budget request of $613.9 billion, a figure that accounts for $88.5 billion for contingency operations largely in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said in January that it would slip two LCSs and one Virginia-class (SSN-774) sub outside of the five-year plan that runs through 2017. The SSN-774 has been moved from fiscal 2014 to 2018. The procuring of four LCSs annually will remain in place until 2016 and 2017, when the rate drops to two for each year. The budget release also unveiled plans to take one Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) off the books in 2014 and shift it to 2016.
Rear Adm. Joseph Mulloy, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for the budget, told reporters that a backlog of ships already on order should soften the impact on the industrial base, and by the end of 2017 the fleet of Navy vessel will remain at the current number of 285. He said 37 ships are under currently under construction.
“So we have a very large amount of backlog. So in all these yards where you may see low numbers, there’s an extensive amount of work, and it takes a couple years to get them on contract,” he said. “We have nine more ships to award this year.”
The Navy is re-evaluating long term goal of building and sustaining a 313-ship fleet in light to the new global posture strategy presented by the Obama administration last month. Mulloy said the Navy estimates that the fleet size will exceed 300 in the next decade. The evaluation is expected to be complete in April or May, he said.
The budget reduced research and development for the replacement to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, in line with plans to delay initial procurement of the SSBN(X) from 2019 to 2021. R&D spending on the program was cut to $565 million from the $1 billion appropriated for 2012.
The request would provide $608.2 million for the first year of construction on the second ship in the new Gerald R. Ford class (CVN-78) of aircraft carriers, affirming the Navy’s commitment to sustaining 11 carrier-based battle groups despite earlier speculation they might be reduced to 10. The revised global strategy calls for greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region in large part based on sea power.
A key element of that is countering attempts by potential adversaries to deny area access. Todd Harrison, a budget analyst at the Center for Strategic Budgetary Assessment, said the funding of an aircraft carrier, which is more vulnerable to enemy anti-access area denial threats, is questionable when it comes at the cost of delaying the procurement of subs more capable of coping with the challenge.
“It kind of makes you wonder what they are talking about,” he said.
The budget documents propose $3.5 billion for the procurement of two DDG-51s in 2013, four Littoral Combat Ships–two of each Freedom and Independence class variants–for 1.8 billion. That figure includes buying three mission modules: One for mine countermeasures and two for surface warfare. The document calls for spending $4.8 billion for two SSN-774s and $1.6 billion to overhaul and refuel the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) aircraft carrier.
The document also seeks $811 million to fund cost overruns associated with the CVN-78. Mulloy said he did not expect the cost growth to become much larger even though the ship is only about halfway complete.
One of the biggest victims of the Navy’s effort to rein in costs at a time of federal budget constraints is the Joint High Speed Vessel, which is taking the bulk of the service’s shipbuilding cuts. The Navy originally planned to buy two dozen JHSVs, but later reduced the fleet size to 10. The Navy is asking for $189 million for the final ship of the class.
On aircraft, the V-22 is facing sharp reductions over the next five years. Plans to buy more than 120 under a multi-year contract will be reduced to 91. For fiscal 2013, the Pentagon is requesting $1.7 billion to buy 21, a drop of 14 from the current year.
The Navy is seeking $1.2 billion for five of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, is maintaining plans to buy 26 F/A-18 E and F variants for $2.2 billion, and 12 EA-18G Growlers for $1 billion.