The Navy’s proposed FY 2024 shipbuilding budget request of $32.8 billion includes procurement of nine “battle force” ships – those ships that contribute directly to Navy warfighting or support missions. To help fund the new ships, the Navy is seeking to retire 12 vessels, including two Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), three amphibious landing ships (LSD), one attack submarine (SSN), five cruisers (CG) and one vessel not identified in the documents available to date.
And while retiring older vessels or ships that are no longer well-suited to support the Navy’s evolving mission makes good fiscal sense, it has traditionally been a very hard sell on Capitol Hill. For instance, in its FY 2023 budget request, the Navy proposed decommissioning 24 ships, including nine Littoral Combat Ships. According to the Navy, decommissioning the 24 ships would have generated $3.6 billion in savings over five years. Congress however, refused to go along with the full proposal, allowing the Navy to retire only five of the LCS ships, despite repeated Navy complaints about ongoing mechanical issues and the inability of the ships to adequately perform their primary missions.
In an era where funding for new and future programs – the “Columbia” ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), the new “Constellation” class missile frigate (FFG), the next generation destroyer [DDG(X)], and the next generation attack submarine [SSN(X)] – will place additional demands on the shipbuilding budget, the Navy will need the flexibility to make tough decisions about its current fleet. We’ll be watching to see if Congress is going to continue to call the shots.
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