Industry pushes lawmakers to build 355-ship Navy

Industry officials pushed senators to help them build up the U.S. Navy’s fleet to 355 ships during a hearing before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday.

At the hearing, lawmakers heard from industry leaders on the challenges they would face if the Navy gets the green light for its largest fleet expansion in decades.

“It is clear that our current fleet of 275 ships is insufficient to address the security challenges we face today and that we anticipate in the future,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the seapower subcommittee, said in his opening statement.

“We want to help and we want to lead in this regard.”

{mosads}The proposed increase to the Navy’s fleet was unveiled in December 2016 following a yearlong internal assessment of the service’s strength. The plan for a Navy with 350-plus ships also has the support of President Trump.

Estimates project the Navy could reach 355 ships by the 2040s. But the service’s top officer, Adm. John Richardson, has called for ramping up that effort to hit the target by the 2020s.

Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, told lawmakers the U.S. possesses most of the infrastructure necessary to carry out the massive undertaking but cautioned the country may lack the skilled construction base necessary for producing the new ships.

“Yeah, I would say industry-wide we see [the need for] workforce development,” he said.

According to a 2016 study of the Conference Board, a research firm, there are shortages of American skilled labor in the face of strong demand.

Industry leaders at the hearing suggested government measures to help them meet expanded shipbuilding demand like longer production timelines, a secure government buy-in and block buying of multiple ships at once.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) questioned whether those demands were realistic.

“The last time I would have heard any of these things being said about policies coming out of Capitol Hill, disco and leisure suits were still popular,” Tillis said.

The panel also discussed the sometimes-arduous process of securing the security clearances necessary to complete government work — a procedure some said slowed work.

“It likely takes a few weeks — and it’s been taking months to process an interim clearance or … employment clearance,” said John Casey, executive vice president of marine systems for General Dynamics, which produces ships and submarines for the Navy.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) at the hearing highlighted the importance of building up the U.S. icebreaking fleet to counter Russia in the Arctic.

Currently, Russia maintains about 40 Arctic icebreaking ships, while the U.S. has two, only one of which is operational.

Trump highlighted his support for American icebreaking ships last week during his commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.