Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Senate lawmakers in their defense policy bill are poised to maintain pressure on the Navy to change course on its amphibious warship fleet, as well as push the service to prepare for a second shipyard to produce the Constellation-class frigate.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, one of four congressional panels with authorities to oversee the Pentagon’s budget, is supporting the White House’s entire shipbuilding request, as well as recommending full funding for an additional $1.9 billion San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, LPD-33, a top Marine Corps unfunded priority that has been central to nearly every congressional hearing on the Navy’s budget request, according to a summary of the bill. That matches the recommendations made by House lawmakers earlier this week.
In addition to recommending funding for LPD-33, the committee also included a host of policy provisions all aimed at directing the Navy to not let it amphibious warship fleet deteriorate any further. For example, one provision would have the service schedule maintenance and repair activities for amphibs “to ensure that 24 such warships are available for worldwide deployment at any given time.”
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Another provision seeks quarterly briefings for lawmakers on the “operational status” of the amphibious fleet.
A third policy would require the submission of a 30-year shipbuilding plan that maintains 31 amphibious ships in the Navy’s fleet. Breaking Defense first reported that Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro effectively balked on a previous request from several SASC members to provide such a shipbuilding plan by June 19, instead insisting that he would follow the law with respect to the service’s requirements.
The draft legislation also says Senate lawmakers would prevent the service from retiring three amphibious ships, as well as one Aegis cruiser earlier than the expiration of their useful lives. The Navy’s budget request included retiring three cruisers, three amphibious ships and two Littoral Combat Ships.
Speaking to reporters today following the bill summary’s release, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., chairman of the subcommittee on seapower, said the Pentagon’s resistance has stemmed primarily from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, rather than the Navy and Marine Corps’ leadership.
“I think the Navy, Secretary [Carlos] Del Toro and Commandant [David] Berger and Chief of Naval Operations [Adm. Michael] Gilday have all said exactly the same thing. We need 31 ready amphibs,” he said. “So when the budget comes over, and there’s no path to 31, and you ask the question, ‘Why? You’ve just told us you need them.’ The answer is because the OMB and the White House and the [Secretary of Defense’s] office decided that that didn’t make the cut.”
Kaine, who signed the letter to Del Toro, said the bill would require the Navy to produce the updated long-term shipbuilding plan, which delivers 31 amphibious ships, within 60 days of the legislation’s enactment and there would be financial prohibitions on the service’s budget if it fails to comply.
Separately, the bill would also direct the Navy to develop a plan for a second shipyard to produce the Constellation-class frigate. The potential for a second yard building the new frigate has been closely watched both by major shipbuilders, eager for a another chance at the competition they lost in 2020, as well as lawmakers who want to boast a massive jobs boost back home.
For their part, Navy officials overseeing the program have maintained their deal with prime contractor Fincantieri Marinette Marine provides them with the necessary options to start a second shipyard competition. However, they also insist their focus must remain on keeping the lead ship under budget and on schedule before thinking about additional shipbuilders.
The service’s current program manager for the Constellation-class frigate, Capt. Kevin Smith, was recently selected and promoted to serve as the flag officer overseeing the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants. A change of command ceremony took place on June 1, according to a Navy statement.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft legislation comes the same week as the other three committees overseeing the Pentagon all are advancing their respective annual legislation. While the markup processes historically have been scattered throughout the summer months, lawmakers are ostensibly moving quicker this year due to the overarching deal the White House made with congressional leaders in late May. That agreement predetermined the topline defense spending numbers, one of the most contested issues Democrats and Republicans struggle to agree upon each year. The SASC bill advanced out of committee with a vote of 24-1; a committee statement does not specify which senator voted against.
