American Shipbuilding Association

DATE:  February 7, 2007                                             CONTACT: Cynthia L. Brown

                                (202) 544-8170

FY08 Ship Procurement Budget – Up From FY07

            (Washington, D.C.) – The President’s FY08 budget, released yesterday, requests $12.5 billion for new naval ships.  This represents a $3.5 billion increase over the FY07 appropriations of $9.0 billion for new ship procurement.  “It is very positive that the budget for shipbuilding at long last proposes an increase.  This is an encouraging step from last year’s level, but it does not meet the increased funding level Navy leadership stated was needed in accordance with the 30-year shipbuilding plan,” said Cynthia Brown, President of the American Shipbuilding Association. 

            The Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan called for a FY08 new ship procurement budget of $14.1 billion to begin the long process of rebuilding the fleet to 313 ships – the minimum force required to defend the Nation and project power around the globe, according to Navy leaders.  In 2001, the Fleet numbered 341 ships compared with a 90-year historic low of just 276 ships today.

            The shrinkage of the U.S. Navy is a result of persistently low procurement budgets.  Since 2001, the budget for the Department of Defense has increased 68%, excluding war supplementals, while the Navy shipbuilding budget has experienced only a 17% increase.  In 1988, the Nation invested $27 billion in today’s dollars to build a Navy.  While the FY08 increase is significant, shipbuilding budgets will have to be increased much more if the United States is to continue as the leading sea power.    

            The American Shipbuilding Association is the national trade association of the shipbuilding industry. ASA members include the nation’s six largest shipyards and more than 70 companies engaged in the manufacture of ship systems and components.