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On May 21st, Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus Co-Chair Rob Wittman (R-VA) hosted a breakfast with Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, and Rear Admiral Ronald Rábago, Coast Guard Director of Acquisition Programs, to discuss the state of America’s sea services and the Navy and Coast Guard projections for the future sea power needs of the country. The meeting was attended by Representatives Tom Allen (D-ME), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Joe Courtney (D-CT), James Clyburn (D-SC), Susan Davis (D-CA), Thelma Drake (R-VA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), John Larson (D-CT), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and Caucus Co-Chair Gene Taylor (D-MS).
Adm. Roughead praised the Virginia class submarine program, remarking, “We have a great boat. The price is moving in the right direction.” Rep. Allen expressed his concern about simultaneously protecting the surface combatant production line and the industrial base. Adm. Roughead stated that the surface combatant programs are the most unsettled in terms of ship procurement and the future Navy. He acknowledged that the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) cut a lot of money out of the surface combatant line while declining to comment on the DDG-1000 versus DDG-51 controversy started by the HASC action. In response to a question from Rep. Larsen regarding China’s rapid naval buildup and the reemergence of Russia’s Navy, Adm. Roughead referred to how China’s naval leadership know-how had increased greatly from the past generation, and that “their version of short-term is 50 years.” He also noted Russia’s plan to expand its fleet to cover most areas of the globe, with particular interest in the Arctic Ocean. Rep. Bartlett voiced his concern about the decreasing number of ship design engineers and skilled production workers in the country. Adm. Roughead acknowledged the threat of a weakened skilled industrial base, and a comparison was drawn between the country’s current situation and how Great Britain lost the capability to design ships and had to rely on experts from the U.S. shipbuilding industry to retrain them in the art of submarine construction.
Admiral Rábago spoke on the recapitalization of all major Coast Guard ships, including the need to procure new icebreakers if future Coast Guard budgets permit.
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