The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, including dry cargo ship USNS William McLean, the amphibious ship USS Bataan, and amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, transits through the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, June 9, 2020.
WASHINGTON: Senate lawmakers are continuing a years-long endeavor to “encourage” the Navy into adapting a multi-year procurement strategy to buy amphibious ships, with this year’s version of its defense policy bill directing the Navy secretary to provide a business case analysis to prove if the strategy has merit.
“The committee believes that a block buy, multi-ship, or multiyear procurement approach for LPD-17 Flight II-class amphibious transport ships and LHA-10 would provide substantial cost savings as well as needed stability and predictability for the shipbuilder and its vendor base,” according to a report accompanying the Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft defense policy bill, known as the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
The House passed its version of the NDAA last week, completed with a $24 billion plus-up over the money requested by the Biden administration. The lower chamber’s defense bill authorizes a multi-year procurement for the Navy, but does not include additional language in the report. The Senate’s draft bill was passed by the committee in July but the text was not made public until last week.
The Navy’s previous estimates showed purchasing three San Antonio-class ships and one America-class ship using multi-year procurement authorities could save up to $1 billion, according to the new Senate report.
The push and pull between the Navy and lawmakers to use special procurement authorities for amphibious ships has gone on for several years, but the Navy has not requested the funding to execute such a deal. Buoying lawmakers’ argument is the service’s successful block buy for two Gerald Ford aircraft carriers — CVN-80 and CVN-81 — which the service says will save up to $4 billion.
With that in mind, Senate lawmakers want the Navy secretary to submit a report outlining the costs for purchasing a variety of amphibious ships using a multi-year agreement.
“If the business case analysis shows that pursuing a block buy, multi-ship, or multiyear procurement strategy for LPD-17 Flight II-class ships and LHA-10 has merit, the committee strongly encourages the Secretary to include such a proposal in the Navy’s budget request for fiscal year 2023,” the report says.
Separately from the multi-year procurement language, Senate lawmakers are also seeking an extensive report from the service about a potential lethality and survivability upgrade for the San Antonio-class ships.
Some possibilities under consideration, according to the report, include upgrading the SPY-6 radar to the fixed-face configuration; integrating a 16-cell Vertical Launching System as well versions of the Tomahawk Weapon Control System, Ship Self-Defense System, Cooperative Engagement Capability and Aegis Combat System.
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