The changing of presidential administrations has brought a lot of uncertainty to the federal budget process, with President Trump’s public support of programs often tempered by contradictory realities when the rubber hits the road.
The support complements the Navy’s 2016 Force Structure Assessment, which recommends putting American shipbuilding “on an upward glide path” to more newbuilds. In mid-September, the U.S. Senate raised the ante by passing the Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas (SHIPS) Act. The bill would make it U.S. policy to boost the strength of the fleet from the current total of 276 ships.
The plan faces two longstanding challenges for the Navy and American shipbuilders: budget constraints imposed by sequestration, and Congress’ penchant for funding government programs by continuing resolution.
“If we’re going to be honest about a 355-ship Navy, sequestration has to go away,” Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, told American Ship Review. “It has implications that are quite severe.”
Paxton said continuing resolutions are just as harmful to the industry because they don’t allow for strategic planning and effective management when it comes to procurement and scheduling. “CRs” are particularly damaging to shipyards that are heavily focused on Navy vessel repair, he said.
Coast Guard flip-flop
While President Trump has publicly campaigned for more defense spending and a larger Navy fleet, he sent a different message in February when he called for a $1.3 billion cut in the Coast Guard’s budget for 2018. Nearly half of the reduction would have come from canceling production of a ninth national security cutter (NSC) by Ingalls Shipbuilding.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der American Ship Review 2018-Ausgabe von Professional Mariner.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der American Ship Review 2018-Ausgabe von Professional Mariner.
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Mariner's role still unknown as autonomous shipping gains speed
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