Despite some recent pressure from Congress and from a group of retired Marine generals to build a 12th LPD-17 amphibious ship, the Navy doesn’t appear interested in ponying up for an extra vessel, and Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley suggested in a hearing late last week that the service isn’t likely to budge on the issue anytime soon.
“It’s of concern, but the commandant would not have signed up for something that he couldn’t ultimately accept,” Stackley said about the amphib shortfall the Navy will face, partly due to scaling back the LPD-17 program to 11 ships. “And I think it was a matter of just recognizing where we are with the budget and drawing a hard line so it doesn’t continue to erode regarding the total amphibious force.”
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked Stackley first about the health of the LPD-17 program, but it was Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) who pressured Stackley about the seeming lack of interest in building a 12th ship in his state, asking him to comment on a recent letter backing a 50-ship amphib force — 17 more than the current goal — signed by 20 retired Marine generals. Stackley was not swayed by the argument.
“The notion of a 50-ship amphibious force, I think that’s less about the requirement to support major combat operations and it’s more in recognition of the fact that the versatility of those amphibs make them a workhorse in the fleet, and so there is always going to be a high demand for that type of capability,” he said.
So where does the program stand at this point? A 12th amphib will be a tough sell, as it will require Congress to find well north of a billion dollars to fund the ship in an already tight fiscal climate. The program certainly has support in Congress, as in the fiscal 2013 continuing resolution lawmakers added $263 million in advance procurement funding to continue LPD-17 construction. However, the fiscal situation certainly hasn’t improved in the last two budget cycles, and buying another amphib could prove to be a too tall an order for Congress as the Navy turns its focus to LSD(X).