[h=1]Trump is planning the biggest Navy fleet since the Cold War: President-elect calls for $5billion increase in shipbuilding to meet threats from Russia and China[/h]
Shipbuilding to meet the Navy's 355-ship goal could cost $5bn to $5.5bn
A retired naval officer said Donald Trump's request is 'not realistic'
Hundreds of US tanks were also unloaded at Bremerhaven, Germany on Friday
The Navy currently has only 274 deployable battle force ships
By KAREN RUIZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED: 01:03, 9 January 2017 | UPDATED: 02:25, 9 January 2017
With President-elect Donald Trump demanding more ships, the Navy is proposing the biggest shipbuilding boom since the end of the Cold War to meet threats from a resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China. The Navy's 355-ship proposal released last month is even larger than what the Republican Trump had promoted on the campaign trail, providing a potential boost to shipyards that have struggled because budget caps that have limited money funding for ships. US tanks and hundreds of fighting vehicles were also unloaded in the northern German port of Bremerhaven on Friday, which will be moved into Eastern Europe to help allay concerns from NATO countries for Russia.
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Bath Iron Works in Maine: The Navy is proposing the biggest shipbuilding boom since the end of the Cold War to meet threats from a resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China
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A boost in shipbuilding to meet the 355-ship goal could require an additional $5 billion to $5.5 billion in annual spending in the Navy's 30-year projection
Workers at Maine's Bath Iron Works who are worried about the future want to build more ship, but wonder where the billions of dollars will come from. A boost in shipbuilding to meet the 355-ship goal could require an additional $5 billion to $5.5 billion in annual spending in the Navy's 30-year projection, according to an estimate by naval analyst Ronald O'Rourke at the Congressional Research Service. 'Whether Congress and the government can actually fund it, is a whole other ball game,' said Rich Nolan, president of the shipyard's largest union said.
The Navy's revised Force Structure Assessment calls for adding another 47 ships including an aircraft carrier built in Virginia, 16 large surface warships built in Maine and Mississippi, and 18 attack submarines built in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Virginia. It also calls for more amphibious assault ships, expeditionary transfer docks and support ships. A larger fleet would be good for national security, better for both the sailors, who'd enjoy shorter deployments, and for the ships, which would have more down time for maintenance, said Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, which represents most of the major Navy shipbuilders. 'Russia and China are going to continue to build up their navies,' he said. 'The complexities aren't going to get any easier. The Navy, more than any of the services, is our forward presence. 'We're going to need this Navy.'
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The Navy's revised Force Structure Assessment calls for adding another 47 ships, 16 large surface warship, and 18 attack submarines
Many defense analysts agree that military capabilities have been degraded in recent years, especially when it comes to warships, aircraft and tanks. The key is finding a way to increase Navy shipbuilding to achieve defense and economic gains 'in a fiscally responsible way that does not pass the bill along to our children,' said independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, a member of the Armed Services Committee. Even when Trump takes office, no one envisions a return to the heady days during the Cold War when workers were wiring, welding, grinding, pounding and plumbing ships at a furious pace to meet President Ronald Reagan's audacious goal of a 600-ship Navy. The Navy currently has 274 deployable battle force ships, far short of its old goal of 308 ships.
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More than 2,500 US tanks, trucks and other vehicles will be handled in Bremerhaven during what is the biggest troop transfer from the US to Europe since the end of the Soviet Union
Lawrence J. Korb, a retired naval officer and former assistant defense secretary under Reagan, said the Navy's request isn't realistic unless the Trump administration is willing to take the budget 'to levels we've never seen.' 'You never have enough money to buy a perfect defense. You have to make trade-offs,' said Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. But investors apparently are betting on more ships.
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Former Naval officer Lawerence J Korb said Trump's request isn't realistic unless the administration is willing to take the budget 'to levels we've never seen
General Dynamics, which owns Bath Iron Works, Connecticut-based Electric Boat and California-based NASSCO, and Huntington Ingalls, which owns major shipyards in Virginia and in Mississippi, have both seen stock prices creep upward since the election. 'To the generic military shipbuilder, it's a bull market right now,' said Ronald Epstein, an analyst at Bank of America's Merrill Lynch division. In Bath, the 6,000 shipbuilders aren't going to count their eggs before they hatch. 'A lot of people are hopeful that it'll happen,' Nolan said. 'But they're taking a wait-and-see approach. They've heard it before and then seen it not come to fruition.'
