Defense Budget Holds the Line for Sub Production
DEFENSE BUDGET
The New London Day
Renée Dudley
Boston University Washington News Service
5 February 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 – Spending on submarines would remain level despite overall increased spending under the defense budget that was released Monday.
One additional Virginia Class submarine would be built in fiscal year 2008, while the Navy’s submarine research budget would be cut.
“With the number of submarines being retired, we’re not just holding steady, we’re going backwards,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. “It’s almost a crisis. It’s the first time in 50 years that we haven’t had a new class of submarine designed.”
Rear Admiral Stan Bozin, director of the Navy’s Office of the Budget, said that requirements, risk analysis, and tradeoffs are taken into consideration in putting together the budget.
“When all is said and done, we have more requirements than we have money, and we make our tradeoffs,” Bozin said.
John Markowicz, president of Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region in New London, said that a cut in research won’t harm the region as much as stagnant submarine production.
“The bread and butter of the defense economy in southeastern Connecticut is the folks who work for and support Electric Boat,” Markowicz said.
Markowicz said while he understands the fiscal reality, stagnant submarine growth could threaten national defense, especially in terms of emerging threats in the Far East, particularly China.
“This is a vital asset that is being depleted at a rate of three to four a year, and only being replaced at the rate of one a year,” he said. “The current force is unable to perform the tasks that fleet commanders are asking them to perform.”
But Bob Hamilton, communications director of Electric Boat, said that it is too early in the budget process to determine future impact.
“The budget will change a lot between now and when the president signs it,” Hamilton said.
“We know that the Navy will procure one sub a year until 2012,” he said. “It’s up to the Navy and Congress to make the decisions. They place the order and we make the subs.”
“Bush’s budget will continue the erosion of the American defense submarine infrastructure,” Courtney said. “It’s clear that Bush’s policies are depleting other critical areas of the defense budget. Our country’s military readiness is being damaged by short-term operations in Iraq.”
The procurement and research and development budget for the Virginia Class submarine in fiscal year 2008 is more than $2.7 billion, while the overall baseline defense research budget is nearly $140 billion.
President Bush requested $481.4 billion for the Department of Defense’s base budget, reflecting an 11.3 percent increase over fiscal year 2007. He requested an additional $141.7 billion to fight the “Global War on Terror,” the first time this expense has been built into the budget at the beginning of the fiscal year.
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