“I think we need to hold those
people involved — both program
officers within the Navy and contractors — accountable for performance to our expectations,” he said.
“This cannot just be a system with
entitlements. Everyone is not just
entitled to continue in business.”
The next secretary also will
inherit the sensitive political challenge of homeporting a nuclear
carrier at Mayport Naval Base in
Florida rather than Virginia’s
Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Delegations from Florida and
Virginia have been battling over
which state would get the carrier,
which could bring more than
3,000 new military personnel to
the selected base. Mayport lost its
only carrier when the Navy retired
USS John F. Kennedy in 2007.
Winter on Jan. 14 announced
the Navy’s selection of Mayport,
saying in a press release, “We have
studied this issue very carefully and
considered multiple factors. This
allows the Navy to obtain the benefits of fleet dispersal without negatively impacting our carrier capability or operations. Homeporting a
carrier in Mayport best supports
the Navy’s mission and safeguards
our nation’s security needs.”
The Virginia delegation already
has signaled that it will fight the
decision.
“I intend to bring full scrutiny to
this decision in the coming months
as it makes its way through the
appropriate congressional process,”
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a member of
the Armed Services Committee and
former Navy secretary, said after the
announcement. “I have yet to receive a proper, intelligence-based
assessment from the Navy on this
matter, despite the fact that as late
as Jan. 12, the chief of naval operations confirmed that he could not
identify a threat-based requirement
for this proposal.”
Meanwhile, the incoming secretary will have to deal with a looming
INTERCEPTS
“The settlement protects the public interest in national security by preserving the Navy’s ability to conduct realistic anti-submarine warfare training.”
Navy spokesman Cmdr. Cappy Surette
On the settlement reached by the Navy and several environmental groups on a
lawsuit over the service’s use of midfrequency sonar in training exercises.
Los Angeles Times
“This does not resolve all of our disputes with the Navy, but
it sets in place a process to deal with future disagreements.
We’re hopeful it will lead to a much more effective dialogue.”
Joel Reynolds
A senior attorney and marine mammal protection specialist with the Natural
Resources Defense Council, which was among the plaintiffs in the midfrequency
sonar suit against the Navy.
Offering his reaction to the settlement.
Los Angeles Times
F/A- 18 Hornet strike fighter shortfall
that is expected to peak in 2017 at 69
aircraft and linger, in smaller numbers, until 2025.
Prime contractor Boeing Co. and
several lawmakers have been pushing for the approval of another multiyear procurement of the F/A-18E/F
Super Hornet as a way to mitigate the
shortfall.
In December, 22 House lawmakers wrote Defense Secretary Robert
M. Gates imploring him to find room
in the fiscal 2010 budget to begin
another multiyear buy of the aircraft.
“The role played by our aircraft
carriers in protecting and promoting
America’s interests around the world
is too important to permit this [short-fall] to occur,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Therefore, as the Defense Department continues its preparation of the
fiscal year 2010 budget, we are writing to express our strong support for
the continued procurement of Super
Hornets as the most cost-effective
near-term means to address the
Navy’s strike fighter shortfall.”
The current and final multiyear
contract on the fighters expires this
year. But with budgets already tight
and shipbuilding supporters clamoring for the Navy to find room in
its annual accounts to buy 12 vessels
a year, the prospects for another
Super Hornet multiyear buy — or
any other approach to mitigate the
shortfall — remain unclear.
Navy Awards $14B
Virginia Class Contract
The Navy Dec. 22 awarded a $14 billion contract to General Dynamics
Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding for eight Virginia-class submarines.
The contract, the third for the Virginia class, pays for one ship per year
in fiscal 2009 and 2010, and two per
year in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The
Navy initially had not planned to begin building two submarines a year
until 2012, but Congress ultimately
required the service to accelerate
production.
The program has been hailed as
one of the Navy’s best-run acquisition efforts, but backers of the
Virginia-class submarine on Capitol
Hill already are maneuvering to pre-
