STATEMENT BY
VICE ADMIRAL JOHN NATHMAN, U.S. NAVY
DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
(WARFARE REQUIREMENTS AND PROGRAMS)
AND
VICE ADMIRAL MICHAEL
MULLEN, U.S. NAVY
DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
(RESOURCES, REQUIREMENTS, AND ASSESSMENTS)
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON PROJECTION FORCES
HOUSE ARMED SERVICE
COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONCERNING
U.S. NAVY SHIPBUILDING, WEAPONS AND OTHER
PROCUREMENT PROGRAMS
MARCH 27, 2003
Mr. Chairman and members of
the Committee, we appreciate the opportunity
to appear today. The investment you've made
in America's Navy has been vital to the
nation's security and your Navy's ability to
project more power, more protection and more
freedom to the far corners of the earth.
Thank you for your exceptional and
continuous support.
I.
Your Navy Today
This is a time of tremendous
challenge and accomplishment for our Navy.
Our men and women operating in the air, on
and under the sea, and on the ground are at
the leading edge of the Global War on
Terrorism.
Today,
there are 168 ships deployed, more than half
of the Navy, providing persistent combat
power forward; this includes seven of twelve
aircraft carriers, and nine of our twelve
big deck amphibious ships (LHA/LHDs). They
are deployed in support of the nation's
interests in the Persian Gulf, the
Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the
Western Pacific. Still others are preparing
for deployment or continuing operations like
strategic deterrent and counter-drug patrols
in support of other national imperatives.
II.
Your Future
Navy
The 21st
century sets the stage for tremendous
increases in precision, reach, and
connectivity, ushering in a new era of joint
operational effectiveness. We clearly will
be able to integrate sea, land, air, and
space through enhanced network technology to
a greater extent than ever before. And in
this new, unified battlespace, the sea will
provide the vast maneuver area from which to
project direct and decisive power.
To
navigate the challenges ahead and realize
the opportunities, we developed this past
year a clear, concise vision - Sea
Power 21 - for projecting decisive
joint capabilities from the sea. The Chief
of Naval Operations has already described
this vision to you, so we will not repeat
that description here. But we want to
emphasize to you that the Sea Power 21
vision will be put into practice through a
new Global Concept of Operations
(CONOPs) to distribute our combat striking
power to a dispersed, networked fleet. This
will optimize our flexible force structure
and create additional, scaleable,
independent operating groups capable of
responding simultaneously around the world.
This distribution of assets will take us
from 19 independent strike capable groups to
37 independent strike capable groups with
the full implementation of the Global CONOPs.
Sea Power 21, put into practice through the
Global CONOPs, will provide increased
power-projection.
Integral
to Sea Power 21 and to ensuring access to
critical corners of the globe through
operational independence is the Sea Base.
The Navy and Marine Corps Team is working
closely to determine the best mix of
expeditionary ships that will make up the
future Sea Base. In addition to Naval
requirements, we will also consider other
Joint missions that may arise such as the
need for a Joint command ship, hospital
ships, and an Afloat Forward Staging Base.
We will know more about these requirements
over the next year as we complete on-going
efforts such as the Joint Forcible Entry
Study and the Defense Science Board
Seabasing Study. As we begin procurement of
MPF(F), LHA(R), DD(X), LCS, MV-22 and JSF,
we have a unique opportunity to design an
entire package of capability to support Sea
Basing and Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare.
We are facing a rare inflection point in
history with several new ship classes coming
on line within the next few years. What we
decide to build today will impact the Navy
for the next 30-40 years.
III.
Context for Our FY04 Budget Request
In recent years the Navy
improved its readiness by properly funding
our current readiness accounts, deepening
the growth and development of our people,
and developing innovative operational
concepts and capabilities.
We also
sharpened our focus on future force
structure - to buy the ships, aircraft and
the capabilities needed for tomorrow's
Navy. At the same time, we did not overlook
the important gains our focus on current
readiness made these last few years; it
produced the more responsive force on
deployment today. As a result, we looked
hard at ways we could balance these
priorities and our discretionary investments
to both satisfy the near term operational
risks and prepare for the long-term risks of
an uncertain future. This year we made hard
choices across the Fleet to do more to
mitigate our future risk while sustaining
our current readiness gains.
Our FY 2004 budget request
includes an initiative to accelerate the
retirement of our oldest, least capable, and
most maintenance-intensive ships, and to
apply the savings this decision produces
toward higher recapitalization priorities.
Our preferred inactivation timeline would
produce $1.2 billion across the FYDP for
this purpose.
Accelerating the retirement of the SPRUANCE
Class destroyers, the baseline 1 Aegis
cruisers, and selected OLIVER HAZARD PERRY
Class frigates was one of the most difficult
decisions we made in building this year's
budget. Although difficult, we firmly
believe it is the right decision, one we
made only after carefully considering the
risks, both in the near-term and in the
long-term. Current Navy warfighting
analysis of likely combat scenarios over the
next ten years indicates that the warfare
missions for surface combatants are not well
met by SPRUANCE Class destroyers, baseline 1
Aegis cruisers and older PERRY Class
frigates. In the long term, we need the
next generation destroyer, DD(X), the next
generation cruiser, CG(X) and the Littoral
Combat Ship to address these missions.
Fundamentally, we believe
aggregate warfighting capability based on
the type and mix of key weapon systems in
the fleet is a better metric than the total
number of ships when analyzing the risk
attendant to various force structure
options. While it is true that one ship can
only be one place at a time, and that below
a certain threshold the total number of
ships does matter, our judgment is that the
near-term retirements we propose do not
cross the threshold of unacceptable risk.
Instead, accelerating the retirement of
these selected ships adds little risk in the
near-term, but helps significantly in
facilitating our transition to the numbers,
type and mix of ships we will require to
execute the range of missions we anticipate
in the 21st Century.
In assessing the risk of
reducing our legacy surface combatant
inventory, we examined three criteria by
which our aggregate warfighting capability
should be measured: capacity for strike
missions, performance against submarine and
surface ship threats, and contribution to
air defense.
Strike warfare capabilities
affected by the decommissioning of SPRUANCE
destroyers are met by the simultaneous
commissioning of ARLEIGH BURKE Class
destroyers; the number of Vertical Launch
System (VLS) cells available in the Fleet
for Tomahawk by FY 2004 is greater than in
FY 2001 despite the decommissionings, and it
rises steadily thereafter. PERRY Class
frigates and baseline 1 Aegis cruisers, the
oldest in the inventory, have no VLS or
Tomahawk capability.
The most effective surface
combatant weapon system for anti-submarine
and anti-surface warfare (ASW/ASUW) is the
combination of a LAMPS Mk III helicopter and
an Aegis warship. The net result of the
planned ship decommissionings and BURKE
Class destroyer commissionings is to
temporarily reduce the total fleet capacity
for helicopter embarkation, but the number
of deck spots for helicopters available
still exceeds the number of helicopters in
the inventory to fill them.
The ability to maintain a
shipboard protective anti-air warfare shield
over a broad area is best delivered by the
Aegis Weapon System and the SM-2 Block IIIB
VLS missile. Neither the SPRUANCE nor PERRY
Class ships are Aegis equipped, and the
baseline 1 Aegis cruisers have Mark 26 rail
launchers which can only shoot older, less
capable missiles. We are focusing our
Cruiser Conversion efforts on upgrading the
22 cruisers with VLS for future mission
requirements, including ballistic missile
defense (BMD). The cost of doing this for
the baseline 1 cruisers is prohibitive.
In every case, continuing to
operate these ships for the few years
remaining in their useful lives adds little
to our aggregate warfighting capability
while hampering our ability to move forward
with critical recapitalization efforts.
We will
continue to pursue efficiencies that improve
our warfighting capability. We are
committed to producing the level investment
stream that will help implement our bold new
Navy vision and produce the number of future
ships, aircraft and systems we need to
counter the 21st Century threat.
Harvesting savings for reinvestment is an
important part of that effort, and we will
continue to examine the potential
efficiencies while weighing the operational
risks, both now and in the future.
This year, we intend to:
-
Sustain our current
readiness gains
to support the global war on terror;
-
Deepen the growth and
development of our people
into the 21st
Century, high-technology personnel force
that is our future; and
-
Invest in
our bold new Navy
vision -- Sea Power 21 -- to
recapitalize and transform our force
and improve its ability to operate as
an agile, lethal and effective member of
our joint, networked warfighting team.
IV.
Investing
in Sea Power 21
Our 21st Century
Navy will be a joint, netted, dispersed
power projection force and Sea Power 21 is
the framework around which our Navy will
organize, integrate, and transform. It
prescribes a
strategy-to-concepts-to-capabilities
continuum by which current and future Naval
Forces will exploit the opportunity that
information dominance and rapid, highly
accurate and lethal power projection and
defensive protection capabilities bring to
us.
We have started to "turn the
corner" in our ship and aircraft
recapitalization program. The FY 2004
budget request provides funding for seven
new construction ships, the final two of
four planned SSBN-to-SSGN conversions, and
the first ship in our Cruiser Conversion
program. In all, our shipbuilding program
includes $12.2 billion, a significant
increase above last year. The seven new
ships include three ARLEIGH BURKE Class (DDG
51) destroyers, one VIRGINIA Class (SSN 774)
fast attack submarine, one SAN ANTONIO Class
(LPD 17) amphibious transport dock, and two
LEWIS AND CLARK Class (T-AKE) dry cargo and
ammunition ships.
Additionally, we invest more
than $1.5 billion for Research and
Development (R&D) in transformational
shipbuilding programs such as CVN 21, DD(X),
LCS and SSGN, discussed later in this
statement. Each of these platforms will
bring to the force unique capabilities
focused on distinctly different mission
sets. They will complement each other, and
each will enhance the others' ability to
accomplish its primary mission. Pressing
ahead with all of these programs is
essential to recapitalizing the Fleet with
the right mix of future capabilities.
Demonstrating Navy's
commitment to stabilizing the shipbuilding
program and industrial base, the FY04 budget
presents a plan for Multi-Year Procurement
for VIRGINIA Class SSN. In addition to the
MYP strategies in place for DDG 51 and
requested for VIRGINIA Class, we plan on
funding the Lead DDX and LCS in RDTEN funds
beginning in FY05 and split funding CVN 21
over two years beginning in FY 2007. We are
committed to the continued pursuit of
alternative funding strategies to both
stabilize the shipbuilding accounts and
increase the ship-building rate while
maintaining fiscal responsibility and doing
things that make sense.
The following describes the
core capabilities, and our investments in
our highest priority programs supporting our
vision of a 21st Century Navy.
Surface Combatants
The 2001 Quadrennial Defense
Review Report stated the importance of
projecting and sustaining U.S. forces in
"distant anti-access" environments.
Accomplishing this critical operational goal
requires a broad range of capabilities, and
the naval capabilities required are best
provided by a "family of ships." Although
warships are multi-mission by necessity,
each member of the family of ships is
optimized to perform a key function: DD(X)
for delivery of precision strike and volume
fires to support assured access and maneuver
warfare; CG(X) to create and maintain air
superiority over the joint force at sea and
on land; and Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to
operate closer to shore to deny the enemy
the use of anti-access weapons such as mines
and submarines against our forces.
The FY 2004 budget request
includes funding for DD(X) and LCS. CG(X)
development will begin in the future, and,
as a descendant of the DD(X) program, it
will share with DD(X) a common, more
stealthy hull form and propulsion
architecture. That architecture includes an
integrated all-electric power system that is
more efficient and survivable than today's
ships', and provides more power capacity for
future weapons. DD(X) and CG(X) will also
use many of the same transformational
technologies to reduce crew size and
operating and support costs.
-
DD(X).
The DD(X) advanced multi-mission destroyer
is the centerpiece of our future surface
combatant "family of ships." It will
bring revolutionary improvements to
precision strike and joint fires. The
FY04 budget request includes Research and
Development funding of more than $1
billion for design, development and
testing leading to procurement of the lead
ship in FY 2005. This investment is vital
and it is the most critical component for
the shipbuilding technology base of the
future. Transformational and leap ahead
technologies include an integrated power
system and electric drive; the Advanced
Gun System with high rate of fire and
magazine capability; the new
Multi-Function Radar/Volume Search Radar
suite; optimal manning through advanced
system automation, stealth through reduced
acoustic, magnetic, IR, and radar
cross-section signature; and enhanced
survivability through automated damage
control and fire protection systems.
Unless we systematically reduce the crew
size of our future ships, we can't get to
the future. DD(X) leads the way.
Armed with an array of land attack weapons
it will provide persistent, distributed
offensive fires in support of joint forces
ashore, including our number one joint
partner, the United States Marine Corps.
The capacity in both hull form and
integrated electric power system will
allow us to spiral its development to CG(X),
a critical future component of sea based
missile defense.
-
Littoral Combat Ship
(LCS). The
Chief of Naval Operation's number one
budget priority, the Littoral Combat Ship
is the next member of our surface
combatant "family of ships." The FY04
budget includes $158M to accelerate
development and construction of 9 LCS in
the FYDP, key to ramping surface force
structure to Global CONOPs levels outside
the FYDP. It will be the first Navy ship
to separate capability from hull form and
provide a robust, affordable,
focused-mission warship to enhance our
ability to establish sea superiority. A
networked, lethal, small, fast, stealthy,
and highly maneuverable ship, LCS will be
designed from the keel up as a focused
mission ship capable of employing manned
and unmanned mission modules to counter
some of the most challenging anti-access
threats our naval forces may encounter
close to shore - mines, quiet diesel
submarines and small, fast, armed boats.
Mission module development
will focus on identifying and integrating
systems with technical maturity that will
provide proven war fighting capability for
the first Flight LCS. These potentially
include off board systems that will increase
LCS sensor and weapons reach such as
Vertical Takeoff UAV, Remote Minehunting
System, Spartan Scout ACTD, Long-term Mine
Reconnaissance System and Advanced
Deployable System. Integration of these
systems, in addition to the installed core
systems, will provide LCS combat capability
in the focused mission areas of Mine
Warfare, Anti-Submarine Warfare and
Anti-Surface Warfare. Through the spiral
development process, we will combine
improved legacy systems and next generation
systems to provide ever-increasing
capability for follow on LCS Flights.
Last
year, we continued experimenting with a
range of innovative hull forms, and the
Congress supported us so we could get the
program moving this year, avoiding a
critical one-year delay. The FY 2004 effort
will be aimed at defining requirements,
improving our knowledge base for selecting
an LCS design, and beginning mission module
development. We will capitalize on DOD
initiatives, spiral development, and new
acquisition methods to streamline the
acquisition process, and begin construction
of the first LCS by 2005.
-
CG Conversion.
The FY 2004 budget includes $194 million
for the first Cruiser Conversion. The
Cruiser Conversion Program is a mid-life
upgrade for our existing AEGIS cruisers
that will ensure modern, relevant combat
capability well into this century and
against evolving threats. These warships
will provide enhanced land attack and area
air defense to the joint force commander.
Core to these conversions is installation
of the Cooperative Engagement Capability,
which enhances and leverages the air
defense capability of these ships, and the
5"/62 Gun System with Extended Range
Guided Munitions to be used in support of
the Marine Corps
Ship-to-Objective-Maneuver doctrine.
These converted cruisers will also be
available for integration into ballistic
missile defense missions as that
capability matures.
-
DDG-51.
Three ARLEIGH BURKE Class (DDG 51)
destroyers are being procured in FY 2004
with the $3.2 billion requested as part of
the multi-year procurement (MYP) of 10
DDG-51 ships over the period FY 2002
through FY2005. The Navy and its two
principal DDG builders successfully
negotiated a workload swap arrangement in
June 2002 in which General Dynamics' Bath
Iron Works will transfer LPD-17 ship
construction work to Northrup Grumman Ship
Systems in exchange for additional DDG-51
work. This arrangement will optimize
production efficiencies and stabilize
workload at all shipyards building DDG-51
and LPD-17 Class ships.
Amphibious Ships
-
LPD-17.
The FY 2004 budget provides full funding
of $1.2 billion to procure the sixth ship
of this planned twelve-ship class. LPD 17
functionally replaces LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA
113, and LST 1179 classes of amphibious
ships for embarking, transporting and
landing elements of a Marine landing force
in an assault by helicopters, MV-22s,
landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.
This program is on track and represents a
critical contribution to the Marine Corps'
amphibious lift requirements.
-
LHD-8.
The FY 2004 budget requests $355 million
additional incremental funding for LHD-8,
a modified repeat of previous LHDs.
LHD-8, with introduction of gas turbine
propulsion, all-electric auxiliaries, and
a new electrical distribution and computer
based Machinery Control System will
replace one of the aging TARAWA (LHA)
Class ships in 2007.
-
LHA Replacement (LHA(R)).
LHA(R) is a spiral development ship
construction program designed to field a
far more capable replacement (in
conjunction with LHD 8) for the
five TARAWA Class ships that begin
reaching end of service life in 2011.
LHA(R) will provide a longer and wider
platform capable of increased vehicle
lift, and will have better survivability
and weight margin. The FY 2004 budget
request of $65 million provides funds for
Research and Development supporting FY07
Procurement of the lead ship.
While we
are building LPD-17 and replacements for the
TARAWA Class ships, it is important that we
have a robust sustainment program for the
amphibious ships currently in the Fleet.
The LPD-4 Class Extended Sustainment
program, started in FY03, will be completed
on six of the 11 aging ships by FY06 and
addresses maintenance and operational
readiness concerns. It is not designed to
provide additional capabilities or combat
systems enhancements. Average cost is $73M
per hull based on existing configurations.
These ships will ultimately be relieved by
the last six LPD-17's by 2015 at an average
age of 41.5 years. The LHA-1 Midlife
program completes in FY08 and will ensure
that maintenance and readiness concerns are
addressed. The LHAs do not have future
growth for JSF or significant weight
additions as the limiting draft at full load
has been reached. The first LHA is
scheduled to be replaced by LHD-8 in FY07
and the last hull will be relieved in FY22
by the LHA(R)'s with an average class age of
about 40 years.
Aircraft Carriers
-
CVN 21.
We are fulfilling the President's stated
goal to "skip a generation" of technology
and have accelerated transformational
technologies from the CVNX development
plan into CVN 21.
The
FY04 budget request provides $1.5B in RDT&E
and advanced procurement for the first CVN
21 and programs for split-funded
construction beginning in FY07. The transformational
technologies include a new electrical
generation and distribution system
providing a 300 percent increase in
available electrical power,
improved flight deck design
with Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launching
System and Advanced Arresting Gear,
improved sortie generation, enhanced
survivability, reduced manning, and
incorporation of a flexible infrastructure
that will allow the insertion of new
capabilities as they evolve. CVN 21 will
be the centerpiece of our future Carrier
strike capability when it enters active
service in 2014.
Submarines
-
VIRGINIA-class
submarine (SSN 774).
The first ship of this class will deliver
in June 2004. This class will supplement
LOS ANGELES-class (SSN 688) attack
submarines and improve submarine force
capability for multi-mission littoral
operations including ISR, special
operations, mine warfare, conventional
strike anti-submarine and anti-surface
missions. The Virginia Class is designed
to accommodate new technologies, including
an array of unmanned vehicles and will be
an integral part of our joint, networked,
dispersed fleet of the 21st Century. The
FY04 budget request of $2.5 billion
includes funding for Economic Order
Quantity supporting plans for a Multiyear
Procurement (MYP) contract.
-
SSGN Conversions.
We have requested two additional
conversions in FY04; these ships will be
configured to carry more than 150 Tomahawk
missiles, enabling covert, large-volume
strike. The SSGN will also have the
capability to support Special Operations
Forces for an extended period, providing
clandestine insertion and retrieval by
lockout chamber, dry deck shelters or the
Advanced Seal Delivery System, and they
will be arrayed with a variety of unmanned
systems to enhance the joint force
commander's knowledge of the battlespace.
We will leverage the existing TRIDENT
submarine infrastructure to optimize their
on-station time. The first two ships, the
USS OHIO and USS FLORIDA, begin refueling
overhaul this year, OHIO in Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard and FLORIDA in Norfolk
Naval Shipyard. USS MICHIGAN and USS
GEORGIA will begin their conversion in
FY04, and we expect this capability to be
operational for the first SSGN in FY07.
But we are already experimenting with the
capabilities this new ship will offer.
The recent Sea Trial
experiment, "Giant Shadow", explored how a
network of forces, including special warfare
forces, and various unmanned aerial,
underwater and ground vehicles and sensors
could be used to provide surveillance,
collect real-time intelligence, and develop
and launch a time critical strike in support
of the joint force commander. This included
the first vertical launch of a UUV, testing
of nuclear-biological-chemical sensors, and
the insertion of SEALs from one of the
submarines we will convert to an SSGN.
In
conjunction with Giant Shadow, the USS
FLORIDA successfully launched two Tomahawk
missiles, confirming the ability to launch a
Tomahawk from a configuration similar to the
tightly packed cluster of Tomahawk
All-Up-Rounds (AUR) we will use in the SSGN.
Maritime Prepositioning Forces
-
Maritime
Prepositioning Force Future (MPF(F)).
The FY04 budget request includes $4
million in preliminary R&D funding for
MPF(F) leading to procurement of the first
ship in FY 2008. MPF(F) ships will serve
a broader operational function than
current prepositioned ships, creating
greatly expanded operational flexibility
and effectiveness. We envision a force of
ships that will enhance the responsiveness
of the joint team by the phased at-sea
assembly of the sea-based echelon of a
Marine Expeditionary Brigade. These ships
will off-load forces, weapons and supplies
selectively while remaining far over the
horizon, and they will reconstitute ground
maneuver forces aboard ship after
completing assaults deep inland. They
will sustain in-theater logistics, command
and control, and medical capabilities for
the joint force for extended periods as
well.
Combat Logistics Force Ships
-
LEWIS AND CLARK Class
Auxiliary Dry Cargo Ammunition Ship (T-AKE).
The widely dispersed nature of future
operations and the growing emphasis on
sea-basing of joint capabilities will be
supported by newer, more capable
additional combat logistics force ships
such as the T-AKE Cargo and Ammunition
Combat Support supply ships. The FY 2004
funding of $722 million procures the fifth
and sixth ships of the class to continue
recapitalization of our support fleet.
Delivery of the lead ship is expected in
2005. These ships will be crewed by
Military Sealift Command (MSC) civilian
mariners and constructed to meet ABS
class/USCG certification. Enhanced
capabilities in these ships will include
greater capacities and upgraded material
handling and transfer systems over the
aging T-AFS and T-AE class ships being
phased out. The T-AKE class will be built
with multi-purpose convertible cargo holds
for dry stores and/or ammunition that will
provide greater flexibility to tailor
loads to meet changing operational
requirements. A 12,000-pound Heavy UNREP
system will double both delivery load
weight and throughput rates of transfer,
as well as increase the safe operating
separation of the ships conducting
replenishment. An innovative electric
drive propulsion system will provide
increased electric power for auxiliary
power needs.
Science and Technology
Our
Science and Technology (S&T) investment of
$1.6 billion in FY 2004 continues to focus
on maintaining a broad S&T base.
The S&T program seeks to
inspire and guide innovation that will
provide technology-based options for future
Navy and Marine Corps capabilities. It
addresses areas from oceanography, advanced
materials, sensors, and robotics; from
biomedical science and technology; from
electronics, surveillance, and
neurotechnology and information science;
from advanced combat systems to other
technologies for ships, submarines,
aircraft, and ground vehicles; and from
concept-based experimentation conducted to
enhance warfighting excellence. Our S&T
drawing board includes projects related to
next generation surface ships; unmanned
aerial vehicles; underwater weapons; and,
combat casualty treatment. Approximately
10% of the DoN S&T investment is budgeted
for US Joint Forces Command experimentation
requirements.
The FY
2004 budget request devotes a significant
amount of resources toward four critical
areas; Anti-submarine Warfare, Mine Warfare,
Ship Self Defense, and Air and Missile
Defense; to assure access in the future.
Anti-Submarine Warfare
(ASW)
The FY
2004 budget request supports improvements in
ASW. The Improved Extended Echo-Ranging is
incorporated into the USQ-78B Acoustic
Processor, which will improve large area
acoustic search capability on our Maritime
Patrol Aircraft. Initial testing of the
SURTASS Low Frequency Active (LFA) system in
the Western Pacific has demonstrated
detection capability that provides us added
assurance that we can deal with the
diesel-electric threat as it becomes even
quieter, and we have accelerated development
of an Advanced Deployable System (ADS)
off-board sensor variant, to start in FY05,
that will eliminate the requirement to cable
the system to a shore site. The FY 2004
budget also supports an FY06 IOC of Mk 48
Mod 7 Common Broadband Acoustic Sonar System
(CBASS) Heavyweight Torpedo specifically
designed for use against advanced diesel
submarines employing countermeasures in the
difficult littoral environment. The MH-60R
helicopter with its Advanced Low Frequency
Sonar will provide an improved capability
against submarines in the littorals.
Acquiring the airborne Automatic Periscope
Detection and Discrimination system will
provide further enhancements to our
capability for large area search.
Additionally, the capability for our surface
combatants to survive attacks from threat
torpedoes will be enhanced through the
Surface Ship Torpedo Defense system. The
success of the truly open architecture
Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI)
program in providing significant improvement
in ASW sensor processing for our submarine
force has spawned similar efforts in
submarine combat control, communications,
and upgrades to the surface fleet's SQQ-89
combat suite. These programs validate the
Navy's decision to use commercially
available technology to deliver superior
performance at less cost.
Mine Warfare (MIW)
The FY
2004 budget continues the development and
acquisition of the Long-Term Mine
Reconnaissance System (LMRS), which is on
track for an FY 2005 IOC on the LOS ANGELES
Class and will be incorporated on the
Virginia Class as it delivers. LMRS will
provide a clandestine reconnaissance
capability for mines and mine-like objects.
The FY 2004 budget also includes funding for
the development and acquisition of the
Remote Mine-hunting System (RMS), a surface
ship - launched and recovered
semi-submersible vehicle. RMS has an FY
2005 IOC with near-term fielding planned for
DDGs 91-96. RMS also is a strong candidate
for future deployment on the Littoral Combat
Ship. To meet the Department's goal of an
organic mine warfare capability by FY 2005,
the FY 2004 budget continues the development
and integration of five Organic Mine
Subsystems into the MH-60S platform.
The MH-60S "Knighthawk", the
Navy's newest Multi-Mission Combat
Helicopter, has been identified as one of
the two platforms that enable the Naval
Helicopter Concept of Operations for the
21st Century. Partnered with the MH-60R,
the MH-60S will enable maximum combat
efficiency across a spectrum of warfighting
tasks centered on the Armed Helicopter and
Airborne Mine Countermeasures
configurations. These missions place great
reliance on the lethality of weapons systems
brought to bear on a threat to our nations
access to littoral waters. Through enhanced
lethality of helicopter borne weapons
systems, an asymmetric disruption of Naval
Operations can be thwarted without the use
of fixed wing based aircraft or the air
combat element of the Marine Expeditionary
Unit. In addition to operating from today's
current inventory of combatant ships, the
MH-60S will interface with the Maritime
Prepositioning ship of the future (MPF), the
Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), and the High
Speed Vessel (HSV). As we develop these
platforms and concepts, the MH-60S will be
tailored, through spiral acquisition, to
meet the capabilities required of the Joint
Theater Commander. The FY 2004 budget
includes $431 million for 13 helicopters and
other equipment required to transition to
the new airframe.
Ship Self-Defense
We
continue to invest in upgrading our Ship
Self Defense programs. FY 2004 funding
covers the spectrum from electronic
countermeasures to missiles to guns. The
Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement
Program is a spiral development effort
initiated to provide a robust, full spectrum
electronic warfare system following
cancellation of the Advanced Integrated
Electronic Warfare System in FY 2002. SEWIP
will build on the legacy SLQ-32 system to
field capabilities against next-generation
threats. The current budget expands
procurement of the Close-in Weapons System,
Block 1B. The internationally procured
Rolling Air Frame Missile and the NATO
Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile will provide
ship self-defense against anti-ship cruise
missiles as part of a layered defense.
Additionally, we are pursuing installation
of minor caliber guns on our deploying ships
to improve our ability to counteract a small
boat threat in the 0 to 8,000 yards range.
We soon will install stabilized minor
caliber guns on two DDGs. Additionally,
arming MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters that
deploy on surface combatants provides an
addition layer of lethality against a small
boat attack.
Air and Missile Defense
Our Navy
is poised to contribute significantly in
fielding initial sea based missile defense
capabilities to meet the near-term ballistic
missile threat to our homeland, our deployed
forces, and our friends and allies and we
are working closely with the Missile Defense
Agency (MDA) to that end. USS LAKE ERIE
will be transferred to MDA to facilitate a
more robust testing program for missile
defense. In turn, MDA is requesting funds
to upgrade three AEGIS guided missile
destroyers (DDG) for ICBM surveillance and
tracking duties and procurement of up to 20
Standard Missile interceptors to help us
provide a limited at sea capability to
intercept short and medium range ballistic
missiles in the boost and ascent phases of
flight. Our sea-based missile defense
programs experienced tremendous success on
the test range during 2002, and we look
forward to building on these successes and
developing a vital capability for our
Nation.
The FY 2004 budget requests
$35 million to develop the Extended Range
Active Missile (ERAM). ERAM will enable
over-the-horizon engagements against the
most advanced anti-ship and land attack
cruise missiles, and represents an important
step in projecting area defense landward
from the sea.
The FY 2004 budget also
includes $29.7 million to begin in earnest
the conversion of the Aegis combat systems
to an Open Architecture (OA) design. In
FY04, we will begin the development of
standards and functional architecture,
building the Engineering Design Model of the
computing environment, and validation and
testing of common applications with the
eventual goal of migrating legacy and new
systems to OA condition. Based on
mainstream commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
technologies and systems, converting to OA
can avoid the high cost of maintaining and
upgrading multiple legacy computing systems
that quickly become obsolete and are not
responsive to changes in warfighting
requirements. Legacy computing systems have
reached the upper bounds of processing
capability and will be unable to accomplish
the processing required for near-term and
future complex missions, including Ballistic
Missile Defense. With a COTS based
architecture, there will be minimal system
changes as either warfare requirements or
underlying commercial computing technologies
change over the life of a platform.
Precision Guided
Munitions
Precision guided munitions
receive continued investment in our FY 2004
request with emphasis on increasing our
inventory levels. Joint Direct Attack
Munition (JDAM) production rate has been
tripled with $277 million requested for
procurement of 12,300 Navy JDAM kits in FY
2004 and $139 million was requested for 429
Joint Stand-Off Weapons. Laser Guided Bomb
(LGB) kit procurement will continue with
5,000 to 6,000 LGB kits planned each year
from FY 2004 to 2006. We are also
commencing full rate production under a
proposed multi-year procurement for the
Tactical Tomahawk (TACTOM) missile with 267
missiles requested in FY04. Our partnership
with the Air Force in several of our
munitions programs will continue to help us
optimize both our inventories and our
research and development investment.
Employment of PGMs from aircraft requires
precision targeting information, and the
budget request includes funding for two
noteworthy systems in this regard. First,
the Multifunctional Information Distribution
System (MIDS) provides secure,
jam-resistant, high-throughput digital data
link for voice and data to F/A-18 aircraft.
It supports positive identification, precise
location, situational awareness,
sensor-to-shooter coordination, and
reduction of fratricide between U.S. and
allied aircraft, maritime and ground
forces. This system is included in
F/A-18E/Fs and a retrofit item for F/A-18C/D
aircraft. The MIDS system is currently
deployed with two Super Hornet squadrons
aboard USS NIMITZ.
Second,
the Active Electronically Scanned Array
Radar system to be installed on Naval
tactical aircraft dramatically improves
lethality in both air-to-air and
air-to-ground scenarios. It has three times
greater air-to-air target detection
capability and optimized air-to-ground modes
for multi-target identification. The FY04
budget request of $117 million supports a
system IOC in FY06.
FORCEnet
is the enabler of the foregoing
capabilities, and the operational construct
and architectural framework for naval
warfare in the joint, information age. It
will allow systems, functions and missions
to be aligned to transform situational
awareness, enable rapid mission planning,
accelerate speed of decisions and allow
naval forces to greatly distribute its
combat power in the unified, joint
battlespace. It puts the theory of network
centric warfare into practice. Programs
that will enable the future force to be more
networked, highly adaptive, human-centric,
integrated, and enhance speed of command
include:
-
Cooperative
Engagement Capability.
The FY 2004 budget request includes
$160 million for Cooperative
Engagement Capability (CEC). CEC provides
a significant step forward in transforming
our situational awareness of the battle
space. This transformational program
allows one ship to shoot a weapon at a
generated target based on another ship's
firing solution for the first time in
Naval history. The first squadron of CEC
equipped E-2C Hawkeyes is currently
deployed with the Nimitz Battle Group.
The new variant of CEC that will be
competed this summer is a next generation
design that will be smaller, more
affordable, and more bandwidth efficient
while providing significantly higher
performance and potentially supporting
joint service use.
-
E-2C Advanced Hawkeye
Radar Modernization Program.
E-2 Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) program will
modernize the E-2 weapons system by
replacing the current radar and other
aircraft system components to improve
nearly every facet of tactical air
operations. The modernized weapons system
will be designed to maintain open ocean
capability while adding transformational
surveillance and Theater Air and Missile
Defense capabilities against emerging air
threats in the high clutter and jamming
environment. The advanced Hawkeye will be
a critical contributor to Naval Integrated
Fire Control-Counter Air, and to Sea
Strike and Shield. The FY04 budgets over
$350M for continued development with first
production planned for FY08.
Combining the capabilities of CEC on Aegis
ships and E-2C Advanced Hawkeye aircraft
with the Extended Range Active missile
described earlier creates a capability
package called Navy Integrated Fire
Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA). The over-the
horizon air directed surface-to-air missile
capability against challenging targets that
NIFC-CA will provide will dramatically
improve the joint air defense capability.
-
Unmanned Air Vehicles
(UAV). We
increased our commitment to a focused
array of unmanned air vehicles that will
support and enhance all missions with
persistent, distributed, netted sensors.
We are initiating the Broad Area Maritime
Surveillance (BAMS) UAV this year to
develop a persistent, multi-mission
platform capable of surveillance and
reconnaissance of maritime and land
targets, communications relay and some
intelligence collection. Additionally, we
have requested funding for development,
testing and experimentation of Fire Scout,
a Global Hawk Maritime demonstration, and
an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle - Navy (UCAV-N)
demonstration vehicle.
-
Joint Fires Network.
A further step forward in Network-Centric
Warfare and one of the Navy's
transformational initiatives is the Joint
Fires Network (JFN). The Joint Fires
Network integrates the best elements of
three existing systems, Global Command and
Control System-Maritime (GCCS-M); Joint
Service Imagery Processing System-Navy (JSIPS-N);
and Tactical Exploitation System-Navy (TES-N),
into a converged joint architecture. JFN
automates, coordinates, and correlates the
processing of multiple tactical data
streams from various Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR)
sources to provide time critical fire
control solutions for advanced weapon
systems. JFN provides the maritime and
Joint tactical commander the ability to
quickly target and re-target precision
weapons, enhancing their overall
effectiveness and lethality. JFN supports
Sea Strike and Sea Basing by reducing the
sensor to shooter timeline from hours to
minutes; providing precision targeting
data for coastal and deep fire support;
and the use of ISR data from responsive
and persistent ISR assets to improve both
the Common Operational Picture and
Intelligence Preparation of the
battlespace. The FY 2004 budget includes
$159 million for JFN. JFN will serve as a
critical building block for the FORCEnet
concept.
V.
Conclusion
With
your help, we are significantly improving
our Navy. We will continue our culture of
readiness and our commitment to developing
our people while we recapitalize and
transform our force. Your future Navy will
be joint, dispersed and netted, and we will
accomplish this improvement in warfighting
capability while still pursuing those
efficiencies that make us good stewards of
the public's funds. The Chief of Naval
Operations has made it plain that mission
accomplishment means both warfighting
effectiveness and resourcefulness
The FY
2004 budget request reflects these
priorities. It focuses on the right thing -
ensuring future naval combat readiness. To
recapitalize, we need to sustain the MYP of
DDG-51 Class destroyers and initiate MYP for
VIRGINIA Class submarines. To transform to
meet future threats, we need to keep DD(X)
on track, move ahead on LCS and LCS mission
modules, execute the CVN 21 acquisition
strategy and complete the development of
SSGN. Also, we must define the right mix of
Expeditionary Warfare ships. We thank the
Committee for your continued strong support
of our Navy, our Sailors, and our civilian
shipmates. Working together, we are
confident we will make our great Navy even
better.
