By Marina Malenic
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the cost of replenishing land forces’ equipment and caring for veterans will keep the Pentagon’s shipbuilding budgets stagnant, Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned yesterday.
“It is important to remember that, as the wars recede, money will be required to reset the Army and Marine Corps, which have borne the brunt of the conflicts, and there will continue to be long-term and inviolable costs associated with taking care of our troops and their families,” Gates said during a speech to the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference.
“In other words,” he said, “I do not foresee any significant top-line increases in the shipbuilding budget beyond current assumptions.”
Gates called into question several major weapon acquisitions: the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, a next-generation submarine program and procurement of additional aircraft carriers. He said the department is studying “where it would be necessary or sensible” to launch another major amphibious landing, particularly in light of advances in anti-ship systems. And he said that current plans for 11 carrier strike groups through 2040 might be excessive.
“Consider the massive over-match the U.S. already enjoys. Consider, too, the growing anti-ship capabilities of adversaries,” he said. “Do we really need 11 carrier strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one?”
Gates also questioned whether the country can afford an $85 billion Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine replacement program. The Navy wants to buy 12 SSBN(X) submarines from FY ’19 to FY ’33 at a cost of $6 billion to $7 billion each. That figure accounts for approximately half of the service’s annual shipbuilding budget.
“We simply cannot afford to perpetuate a status quo that heaps more and more expensive technologies onto fewer and fewer platforms, thereby risking a situation where some of our greatest capital expenditures go toward weapons and ships that could potentially become wasting assets,” Gates said.
Furthermore, he warned, potential adversaries are aware of the United States’ “overwhelming” advantage in conventional conflicts and that none of them “intends to bankrupt themselves by challenging the U.S. to a shipbuilding competition akin to the Dreadnought race prior to World War I.”
Given that new reality, he said the department is looking to shift investments towards systems that provide “the ability to see and strike deep along the full spectrum of conflict.” Specifically, the Pentagon wants to:
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Extend the range of naval forces by devoting more resources to long-range drones and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.
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Build new sea-based missile defenses.
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Expand the role of its submarine force, making it capable of conducting more missions deep inside an enemy’s battle network.
Finally, Gates warned that defense budget expectations are “intrinsically linked to the overall financial and fiscal health” of the country.
“And in that respect,” he said, “we have to accept some hard fiscal realities.”