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U.S. Navy Readiness: The Fleet’s Problems Are Not Fleeting
The Defense Department defines readiness as the military’s ability to execute the national security strategy of the United States. By that standard, the Navy has continued to satisfy most of the maritime force requirements of combatant commanders. However, meeting those demands in the face of a shrinking fleet has resulted in deferred maintenance, aging ships, and worn out personnel. Without significant changes to the fleet’s size, operational tempo (OPTEMPO), or maintenance budget, the Navy will be at risk of suffering a precipitous drop in readiness in the years to come.
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Kendall Says Full Speed Ahead on Navy Nuke Missile Subs: $125B Columbia Class
It also helps fund continual improvements to keep up with the threat, said retired Navy submariner and strategist Cdr. Bryan Clark. “Spreading out the R&D spending over the entire program also implies the Navy believes it will continue doing R&D throughout [Ohio Replacement Program] construction,” Clark said. “Since the program will take about 15 years to build, it is likely new threats and capabilities will emerge, [and] sustaining robust R&D investment throughout the program will enable the Navy to incorporate new technologies into the ship, which could then be backfitted into completed SSBNs.”
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US Think Tank Urges Trump To Confront China In South China Sea
A report released last month by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) calls for the incoming Trump administration to initiate a major escalation of the US confrontation with China over the South China Sea. It is written by Ross Babbage, a former top-level Australian defence and intelligence official. Entitled “Countering China’s Adventurism in the South China Sea,” the report is highly critical of the “failure” of the Obama administration “to counter China’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea.” It speaks on behalf of militarist layers of the American defence establishment who have already been pressing for tougher action against China.
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Russian Roulette
Interview with Hal Brands. Russian Roulette takes a look at the politics, economics, and culture of Russia and Eurasia through both interviews and lively discussion with experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and around the world. Hosted by CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program experts Olga Oliker and Jeffrey Mankoff.
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Force Structure Assessment Calls for 355 Ship Fleet
Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, discusses the Navy’s new Force Structure Assessment
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Analysts Predict Rise in MDA Budget With Next Administration
But the MDA's future budgets are likely to go up "fairly substantially" with the next administration, Katherine Blakeley, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said during a Dec. 6 interview, noting that Trump's attitude toward missile defense closely aligns with that of current lawmakers. Pointing out that the MDA's budget was "right around" $9 billion "not that long ago" during the Bush administration, Blakeley said it would be "a large but achievable increase."