Pentagon Mulls How to Fund Submarines and 300-Ship Fleet

[jakeXT]

Congress has created a special fund to help the Navy build its next generation nuclear submarine fleet while rebuilding back to a 300-ship fleet, but Navy and Pentagon officials are now trying to find the dollars to supply that special funding line, said Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley.

Called the National Sea-Based Deterrence fund, the new account is designed to protect funding to build 12 new Ohio Replace Program submarines from the Navy’s overall shipbuilding budget because Navy leaders and lawmakers have said the Navy can’t afford to build the new submarines and also reach the service’s goal of achieving a 306-ship Navy

In total, the Ohio Replacement program will consist of 12 submarines to begin deployments by 2031.

“We have to procure those on a one for one basis to replace the existing Ohio submarines. That poses a significant impact to our shipbuilding budget – a $7 billion per year increase in the 2020s,” Stackley said Wednesday at the Atlantic Council, a Washington D.C.-based think tank..

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2015/01/07/pentagon-ohio-replacement-funding-300-ship/

[unhappycamper]

1. The Puzzle Palace Contiues to Defy Sequestration

In addition to the Ohio-class replacements subs, the Navy has/is:

1. Accepted an UNFINISHED $12.9 billion dollar aircraft carrier. It will cost at least a billion dollars to finish the undone interior spaces. And another shitload of bucks to put aircraft and people on this thing.
2. Morphed the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program from $220 million a copy to $700 million a copy BEFORE deciding the little crappy ship is more or less defenseless AND we're gonna upgrade weapons systems. This camper bets these things will top out at around $1,000,000,000 a copy.
3. The Navy just christened the USNS Trenton.
4. The Navy is pissing and moaning about replacing their Sea Dragon helicopters.

Sequestration, bah!

[jakeXT]

2. What a story..I thought he would make it

http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/distress-signal-year-later-sea-dragon-flies

[bemildred]

3. Maybe they should think bout the "Why?" of it instead.

As in why do we need a 300 ship navy? To do what?

[jakeXT]

4. May the sun never set

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, I got it, but why? What good is it?

We have already spent umpty-ump trillions of dollars on this bullshit and we are losing ground anyway. Maybe it is time to reassess our objectives? Instead of doubling-down on very-expensive failure? How bad does it have to get before someone says "You know, this is really stupid, what we are doing."