By Emelie Rutherford
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) pledged yesterday to do all he can to increase the Navy’s fleet to at least 313 ships, warning of Russian naval activity in the Caribbean and frenetic Chinese shipbuilding.
Martinez, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee, said he has not discussed Navy shipbuilding with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team and is eager to learn the forthcoming administration’s views.
Addressing the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Va., Martinez said the push to increase Navy shipbuilding output to “keep our country safe and confront some of the many threats that we face around the world” should not waiver because of the faltering economy.
“I believe success in our Navy’s future hinges on three simple words: build more ships,” the senator said. “With our nation at war and the threat of terrorism as real as it’s ever been, building a robust and modern fleet is more of a national imperative. It is an essential piece of keeping our country as the world’s premiere seapower.”
Saying he supports the Navy’s plan to grow its fleet from 283 to at least 313 ships, Martinez said he “will continue to do all that I can to ensure that we move in that direction.”
He argued military spending should be viewed as a way to stimulate the economy, though he stopped short of calling for Navy shipbuilding to be included in the massive economic-recovery legislation lawmakers and Obama are crafting. That stimulus package is not expected to include funding for Pentagon weapon systems (Defense Daily, Jan. 13).
Martinez, who was born in Cuba, warned of Russia’s fostering of ties with Latin American and Caribbean countries. He noted the Russian navy’s new plan to station warships around the globe, recent Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises in Caribbean waters, and trips by both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian ships to Cuba and South American countries.
“Russia has rekindled the desire to project power near and far,” Martinez said, also pointing to Russia’s skirmish with Georgia last year.
He added that “China has also emerged as a potential adversary by virtue of their navy’s staggering growth.”
While the U.S. Navy has been building five to eight ships per year, China is averaging 25 vessels each year, he said. China’s new hard-to-detect diesel submarine highlights the need for “a renewed commitment to increasing our anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” he said.
The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will soon be able to help with anti-submarine warfare, he said, calling the new ship optimized for near-shore operations “an absolute game changer” and a “vital capability.” Martinez said he is happy the Navy has committed to improving its acquisition process, which did not work smoothly for the delayed and overbudget LCS development effort.
“Congress expects (a more cost-effective and efficient process), taxpayers expect it, and the Navy as a whole stands to gain by improving this procurement process,” Martinez said.
“In the future, building more ships like the (first LCS) should continue to be a priority, but without a process that works this just can’t happen,” he added.
The senator also cited the need for Navy ships to safeguard trade routes and counter piracy around the world.
Martinez joined dozens of lawmakers in calling on Obama to support an annual buy of 12 Navy ships in the coming years (Defense Daily, Jan. 7). While some defense appropriators have called that number too high, Martinez told reporters yesterday that “we have to be optimistic, because we’ve got to get our fleet back to the numbers that it has to have in order to meet all our needs and threats.”
Vice Adm. Barry McCullough, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, told Navy and industry officials at yesterday’s symposium that the Navy is likely in the most challenging fiscal environment in decades.
“If you look at what’s happened to the economy in the last three or four or five months, and what the government’s trying to do to stabilize the economy, and what the deficit is, and what the revenue base is, and how you make investments in a capital-intensive service like the Navy, you can just imagine what the challenges are,” the admiral said.
Asked what Martinez’s concerns about Russia and China mean for future investments in “high-end” ships that could go up against such nations, McCullough said the Navy needs both the “high-end” vessels with large pricetags as well as the “low-end” and more affordable ships like the LCS.
“You’ve got to be able to maintain the high-end capability…because when you lose it, it’s gone,” McCullough said.