This would pave the way to deliver three new attack submarines per year while adding a second shipyard to build the new Constellation-class frigates. The Biden budget should set a minimum funding level of $31 billion for fiscal year 2023, amounting to an increase of 17%, enough for 15 new ships. The president needs to recognize there is a bipartisan commitment to providing our military the resources it needs to keep pace with our adversaries.
This year, the administration should not repeat its mistake. Thankfully, Congress asserted itself in the budget process and boosted funding for shipbuilding to match President Trump’s December 2020 plan. Importantly, this was all conceived within a framework of restrained overall defense spending.īut President Joe Biden threw out this plan in favor of so-called “integrated deterrence.” His first budget request proposed a 3% real cut to shipbuilding, which would have yielded just eight new ships and a single Arleigh Burke-class destroyer – a meager haul compared to Trump’s proposed 12 ships, secured through a 14% funding increase. This blueprint would have met the 355-ship goal within 10 years, achieved a 400-ship fleet within 20 years, and invested in the next generation of game-changing naval capabilities. Defense planners and White House officials under Trump pursued this goal with vigor, unveiling a robust 30-year shipbuilding plan in December 2020. Reorienting the Pentagon back to a “blue water” strategic framework would deal a heavy blow to Beijing’s maritime ambitions. As Biden officials prepare to send their second budget to Capitol Hill, they should know it does not have to be this way. Yet the Biden administration has reverted back to the Obama model, proposing injurious cuts to shipbuilding that would further undermine U.S.
By the time he left office, our Navy had grown from a 275-ship fleet to a final count of 296 along a trajectory for growth. Recognizing this unacceptable trend, President Donald Trump championed a 355-ship Navy and successfully stemmed our naval decline. During the Obama years, our fleet shrunk to a 100-year low, even as China was building its navy with unprecedented speed. For decades, America’s ability to project power abroad has waned as our Navy fleet has atrophied.
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