Interior Alaska News

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska has called on Congress to address a significant crisis in U.S. Navy shipbuilding, as highlighted in his recent opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner. The senator, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and is the ranking member of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee, has introduced amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) aimed at tackling this issue.

Senator Sullivan expressed concern that delays in major shipbuilding programs could leave the U.S. Navy at a disadvantage compared to China's rapidly expanding naval forces. He noted that China currently possesses approximately 370 warships, with plans to exceed 400 by 2027. In contrast, under President Biden's administration, the U.S. Navy's fleet is projected to decrease from 293 ships to 280 by 2027.

“The U.S. Navy is in the midst of a shipbuilding crisis that will leave the United States and our men and women in uniform perilously overmatched in an increasingly dangerous world if it is not addressed soon,” stated Sullivan.

The senator criticized Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro for inadequate action regarding shipbuilding issues, citing an internal review that found delays of one to three years across five major shipbuilding programs. Sullivan accused Del Toro of being distracted by other priorities such as climate change instead of focusing on shipbuilding and warfighting capabilities.

“In my 30 years of public service, I’ve never seen U.S. Navy readiness at such a low point,” Sullivan remarked. He stressed that this is a bipartisan concern shared by numerous experts who have warned about the Navy's unpreparedness for global challenges.

Sullivan's proposed amendments seek to increase domestic shipbuilding capacity and reduce program delays by enhancing procurement predictability and identifying locations for additional shipyards west of the Panama Canal. He also emphasized utilizing advanced design techniques to enable inland manufacturing of modular ships.

“Congress must intervene because it has been abundantly clear that President Joe Biden and his secretary of the Navy will not,” Sullivan concluded, underscoring his commitment to fulfilling Congress's constitutional responsibility “to provide and maintain a Navy.”