The Sea-Based Deterrence Fund that Congressional authorizers approved in the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act represents a "zero-sum" game without additional top-line funding to relieve the financial burden the Ohio Replacement Program is expected to have on the wider Navy shipbuilding budget, a top Navy official said earlier this week. Speaking Tuesday during an event at the Atlantic Council in Washington, Sean Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, delivered that message, and urged Congressional authorizers to review in future budget deliberations the challenges surrounding funding for the U.S.’ at-sea deterrent. Stackley highlighted a similar situation during the original procurement of the current Ohio-class subs, when the shipbuilding budget spiked by an amount comparable to the additional $5-7 billion that the Ohio Replacement is expected to drive up the current shipbuilding budget every year through the end of the 2020s, Stackley said. “We’re facing the same challenge,” he said. “So the authorizers – we don’t have the solution today, but a step in the right direction is to acknowledge that we’ve got a challenge here. We’ve got to start to put the tools in place to deal with that challenge.” Echoing recent remarks by other Navy officials, Stackley said the service life of the current Ohio-class submarines could not be extended. “It’s been done, so we’re at the limits,” he said. “It poses a significant impact for our shipbuilding budget.”
Stackley highlighted the immediate need for the ongoing Ohio Replacement Program to be fully funded, highlighting the fact that the program is outlined in the Future Years’ Defense Program. “This isn’t something that’s far down the road,” he said. “It’s inside of our FYDP in terms of dealing with that cost, and its impact on shipbuilding.” While he called the Sea-Based Deterrence Fund – which authorizes up to $3.5 billion in unobligated balances from FY’s 2014, 2015, and 2016 to shift into a standalone account to bankroll the Ohio Replacement, but does not establish funding for the project in addition to the overall shipbuilding budget – a “good first step,” he highlighted the funding uncertainty surrounding the project he estimated to roughly cost $100 billion. “We’re going to fund the Ohio Replacement. That is not in the balance,” Stackley said. “The question is how do we maintain the balance of our shipbuilding program as we fund the Ohio Replacement?”
Partner Content