2009: Rep. Gene Taylor on US Navy Shipbuilding

Rep. Gene Taylor

Rep. Gene Taylor [D-MS-4] Chairs the US House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee. He has represented the 4th district for almost 20 years now, despite the fact that it hasn’t voted for his party’s presidential candidate since 1956. Taylor is a vocal critic of the US Navy’s current shipbuilding strategy, while remaining one of Congress’ strongest advocates for a larger shipbuilding budget and a larger Navy. On Feb 4/09, he released his statement on the future of US Navy shipbuilding:

“For far too many years I have watched as the size of the Navy fleet has decreased… In particular, the failure of the [Littoral Combat Ship] program to deliver on the promise of an affordable, capable, and reconfigurable warship only puts the exclamation point on a Bush administration’s strategy that was neither well envisioned nor properly executed. As for the DDG 1000, we will not know the true cost of that program for a number of years but significant cost growth on that vessel will require diverting funding from other new construction projects to pay the over-run.

Lacking the expectation of increased funding available for ship procurement, it is more important than ever to set the Navy on an affordable strategy for ship procurement… To achieve an affordable, stable shipbuilding plan I recommend the following to the new administration…”

Arming the Bug Hunt: Industry Changes & Opportunities

Cougar MRAP

Guest Article by James Hasik

The start of 2009 seems to be viewed with some ease by most military contractors. In the United States, Barack Obama has selected a so-called “centrist” team of top national security lieutenants largely from Bill Clinton’s administration, plus continued service from Republican Robert Gates. The signals of continuity seem so unavoidably clear that Obama’s most leftist benefactors are upset.

Throughout the rest of the Western world, the settling global recession has thus far led at worst to mere program delays, while small bursts of spending meant to fill immediate battlefield needs continue. There is a widespread feeling that most existing procurement programs will remain on course for some time, and perhaps trend downward later.

This conventional wisdom is unconvincing. Rather, it is quite possible that financial constraints, conventional overmatch, and constabulary impulses may combine to significantly reorder military spending priorities throughout the western world in the next few years. Procuring the right kit for small wars, cost-effectively and on-time, means following the economics demonstrated in the procurement of their decisive weapons: the Predator, the JDAM, and the MRAP…