▶ 0:08:29The subcommittee will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to declare a recess at any time. Without objection, so ordered. Thank you everyone for being here today to discuss the Department of the Navy's posture for the upcoming fiscal year.
▶ 0:08:45Understand that we will be getting more budget details from the Department of the Navy in the weeks to come, and this subcommittee looks forward to seeing how the budget decisions for fiscal year 2026 measure up to our current threat This subcommittee, along with the full Armed Services Committee, has long been concerned about the net growth for our naval fleet. We simply cannot divest more ships than we produce in a fiscal year, sacrificing capability in a critical window for deterrence.
▶ 0:09:12For example, we must return to the rate of two Virginia-class submarines per year, and continue to procure at at least two destroyers per year. Challenges with shipbuilding can at least be partially blamed upon the mixed signals we have sent to the shipbuilding industrial base for years. The resulting workforce issues and the diminished output from shipyards are just some of the most glaring examples of the harm done.
▶ 0:09:35We must send consistent signals about our procurement for critical programs and I look forward to discussing how we can do that as well as how we can get some struggling programs like the frigate back on track. We could discuss shipbuilding for the entire hearing, but we cannot overlook the many aviation and munitions programs that are needed for pure competition.
▶ 0:09:55I look forward to discussing the plans for critical platforms like the P-8 and the as well as critical munitions like the SM-6 and heavyweight torpedoes that underpin our deterrent posture. We must continue to invest in critical platforms and critical capabilities if we expect to further President Trump's peace through strength agenda. I'm encouraged by the prospects of additional money for shipbuilding, aviation platforms, and critical munitions in the ongoing budget reconciliation process.
▶ 0:10:24However, this is only the beginning of a national effort to strengthen our defense industrial It is only through consistent investment in our military and its systems and platforms that we can deliver on the promise of peace through strength. I now recognize my good friend, ranking member Joe Courtney, for his opening statement. Uh thank you uh Chairman Kelly. And thank you uh to all the witnesses today.
▶ 0:10:49All three of our witnesses bring uh are accomplished professionals who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their portfolios and we really appreciate your service. As we as our subcommittee meets today on June 4th, we are less than 4 months away from the start of the next fiscal year. And the administration has still failed to send Congress an actual budget with the necessary details to fund specific accounts and a 5-year defense plan, which is required by law.
▶ 0:11:15A 30-year shipbuilding plan, which the law also mandates, should be submitted at the same time as the budget submissions. None of that has actually been uh transmitted to to the Hill so far. This budget submission uh and we did some research uh at the staff level is actually as of today is the latest in history and by all what we're hearing is it's probably going to be the last week of June that we actually finally get the real uh budget document.
▶ 0:11:41As if this late lateness isn't bad enough, the uh budget appendix, which what which was released on Friday, uh provided only top lines for accounts with no funding line breakdown. It did include a request for 20.8 billion for shipbuilding and conversion uh of the Navy, uh the SCN account, uh which is a on its face is a drastic reduction from last year's SCN account when it was finally enacted at the end of uh the process appropriated $36.6 billion. The math is pretty simple.
▶ 0:12:11The SCN account as submitted is $15.7 billion lower. We're certainly being told that the reconciliation bill, which still has not been enacted, will backfill this del- delta since it included $33 billion for Navy shipbuilding. Although I I think it's important to note that in that 33 billion were a number of items that really are not SCN items. Um all positive, but they really don't count towards uh ship hulls.
▶ 0:12:36Um so, but the real question is how can we assume that the reconciliation bill clearly uh will backfill because it states clearly that those funds can be obligated over a 4-year period through September 30th, 2029. So, at this point again, we we still don't really have the final list that's going to be in the reconciliation bill process. Uh Senator Wicker uh a couple days ago released his own version of the reconciliation bill and it looks different than what came out of the house.
▶ 0:13:04Um so, you know, between that fluidity and the fact that uh we still have not gotten an itemization in the uh budget that uh should be submitted by now, um it's still guesswork for everybody, Congress, industry, uh and the Navy in terms of just, you know, what what is the the you know, base that we're going to be sort of working off of. And as I said, we we you know, time's wasting. We we've got very short period of time before the start of the next fiscal year.
▶ 0:13:32In your in the joint testimony, um, uh, that was submitted today, the witnesses correctly stated that the Navy must continue to provide a reliable demand signal to the industrial base to broaden interest, strengthen commitment, and encourage investment at all levels. And that's something which our subcommittee believes wholeheartedly, which is that procurement stability is the is one of the keys to really, uh, boosting investment and workforce, facility, technology that we need to to really get shipbuilding up to the uh, to the proper level.
▶ 0:14:03This panel has a long history of using its authorizing power to create procurement stability with multi-year contracts, robust funding, and timely decision-making, uh, which, uh, again, uh, Chairman Kelly's leadership has definitely fostered, um, those goals. But we are facing a big challenge this year to achieve those goals, and I know, uh, we'll work together, everybody in the committee, to work towards a sensible mark.
▶ 0:14:27Our witnesses today may may not be able to fill in all the blanks that we're faced with, but I look forward to their insights and their perspective on what the Navy and Marine Corps require. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Courtney. Uh, I want to uh, we have three witnesses today. We have Dr. Saidal, who, uh, we're going to give the mic to first. I thank the Marine Corps for sending Lieutenant General Austin and the Navy for Vice Admiral Pitts. We thank y'all for being here. Dr. Saidal, you're recognized.
▶ 0:14:55Good afternoon, Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtney, everyone here with us. I'm joined today by my esteemed colleagues Admiral Pitts and General Austin, who will both provide a Navy and a Marine Corps perspective, uh, which then frees me to take a slightly different tack, uh, to talk candidly about my hopes and aspirations for American sea power and the organization I lead. And today is also my birthday, uh, and I can't imagine spending it with anybody besides you fine folks, uh certainly at my age.
▶ 0:15:24So, it should be Uh I thought a lot about what I want to message in this hearing, and it starts with a vision for the future. I'd like for us to imagine a better day in how we operate collectively. In many ways, I've longed for this for some And I know this, if we can't imagine a different day, we will not be able to lead our naval enterprise to the heights necessary for us to maintain our maritime dominance.
▶ 0:15:49So, imagine a day where the Navy's relationships with our industrial partners and Congress thrive with mutual trust, respect, and accountability. A day in which we care about cost, schedule, and quality in equal measure, where our partners bid to actual cost instead of target cost, and they're rewarded for that behavior, where we have cost estimates with high degrees of confidence rather than uncertain figures that carry significant risk.
▶ 0:16:15In such a time, all of us will optimize for the collective ecosystem instead of optimizing for the specific programs or parochial perspectives. We will jointly work to keep production lines hot, and the ensuing trust will drive our prime partners to utilize tier two and three yards to maximize the collective capacity of the entire system vice the capacity individually.
▶ 0:16:39In the absence of this reimagined day, when the plan is overly aggressive with unacceptable risks, resulting in being behind schedule and over cost from the outset, it shouldn't surprise us that that's where we sometimes find ourselves What I've discovered in my short time in this role is that everyone, this body, our Navy, our industrial partners, passionately would like to be on the path to a better day.
▶ 0:17:03And chairman, I agree that this is a challenge of a So, instead of pointing fingers, let's start taking accountability for this system of governance that is sometimes lacking. The opportunity to change our approach is real, it's reasonable, it can be done. It simply means that all of us need to come together with a thought of maximizing the entire system instead of maximizing our own respective interest. And frankly, it is simply the right thing to do.
▶ 0:17:31For despite the opportunities for improvement that I've mentioned, we still have the finest Navy ever assembled in the history of humanity. And the collective we have made all of that happen, and it's worthy of our pride instead of our disdain. Our collective efforts and passion for the mission, for our Navy, for the nation uh has allowed for greatness to also occur. To be the best at anything in this world is difficult.
▶ 0:17:59So for this committee, for our industrial partners who are watching today, and to the Navy leaders that have come and gone over the years, I say thank you for your efforts in fielding this incredible capability, for everything you've accomplished, for all of it. I'm going to say one last thing here today about my vision for and focus for the future. I will be about building the finest culture and work environments possible for our employees, sailors, and We're going to serve well and everything that entails.
▶ 0:18:29I firmly believe our finest moments in our everyday lives occur when we serve someone unambiguously. It brings us true and by filling other individuals up, it also fills us up as well. We are genetically predisposed to it, but life and overwhelming tasking can sometimes get in the way. Great organizational environments are grounded on this notion of serving well.
▶ 0:18:54And culture is a driving force for almost every good thing that happens in organization, and it's not any different here in the Navy. My commitment to this body is we will be driving to enhance our culture everywhere and in every way by serving Serving our industrial partners, serving this committee, serving our employees, serving our sailors and Marines, and serving our Navy and nation.
▶ 0:19:18Because when our collective work environments are focused on serving each other every day in ways big and small, the best version of our Navy, to include our industrial ecosystem, will present Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtney, members of this subcommittee, our best days are ahead of us. I truly believe that, and I'm very excited to be a part of the team with you to get after these problems. Thank you. Uh Admiral Pitts or General Austin, do either of you have comments?
▶ 0:19:51Uh yes, sir. I have an opening opening statement. Uh Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtney, subcommittee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Seapower investment priorities of the United States Navy. Thank you also for the work that you do in in this subcommittee and in your home states to support our sailors and Marines as they protect the homeland. As the members of this subcommittee are well aware, the United States of America is a maritime nation.
▶ 0:20:21Our country must continue to be ready to counter threats and aggression around the world, but particularly in the world's oceans. The seas are the lifeblood of our global economy, our national security, and our way of life with nearly 90% of global commerce traveling by the sea. The Navy safeguards the world's economy from hostile nations and organizations that threaten international waters.
▶ 0:20:46And when the enemy an enemy doesn't quite get it, you can find the Navy prepared to meet that challenge. In the past year, our sailors have defeated hundreds of drones and missiles and executed dozens of offensive strikes in the Red Sea and the Eastern They have also strengthened our alliances and deterred Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific. And they have maintained a constant strategic deterrence posture with our ballistic missile submarines.
▶ 0:21:17In short, our Navy, integrated with the joint force, remains postured and ready to fight and win. Our business today deals with our nation's future. The Department of the Navy's priorities for funding will build an even stronger global force that is ready to defend our deter adversaries, and prevail in war.
▶ 0:21:38Acknowledging that China as our most is our most consequential opponent at this Our focus is on delivering capabilities now and into the future where require and where required additional capacity. And our pending request to Congress will ensure our naval forces remain ready to execute our nation's tasking and preserve peace through strength.
▶ 0:22:04My view as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities on what our Navy will need in the future is the same as Secretary Fagan's and Acting CNO Kilby's, both of whom have recently testified. Our priorities have been to one, fully fund the Columbia class submarine, the Department of Navy's highest acquisition priority, and address the modernization of the nuclear architecture that underpins it.
▶ 0:22:34Beyond that, our priority focus is on warfighting readiness and capability in order to deliver more readiness in both the near and long term. Jointly, as the Navy and Marine Corps team, Dr. Seidel, General Austin, and I recognize that we have our work cut out for us in order to build and sustain maritime dominance for another 250 years. Your leadership and support are critical in achieving this imperative.
▶ 0:23:04Thank you again for having me as a witness today and I look forward to your Thank you, Admiral Pitts. Uh, General Thank you, sir. Uh, Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Courtney, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I'm honored to join you along Dr. Seidlitz and Vice Admiral Pitts. Your Marine Your Marine Corps has a long history of adaptation. In 2019, we came to Congress with a deliberate force design plan shaped by the evolving character of warfare and informed by current and emerging threats.
▶ 0:23:34It was designed to continuously iterate, improve, adapt, and modernize our forces via threat-informed concept-driven effort to ensure we remain ready for the challenges ahead while fulfilling our role today as an essential part of our nation's naval expeditionary force in We are executing this plan. It is not conceptual. It is operational. We are implementing force design. We cut legacy capabilities. We adjusted end strength.
▶ 0:23:59We reduced our civilian workforce and focused our resources to provide the lethal and agile fighting force necessary to meet the threat. We passed two consecutive full financial audits, a point of pride for our Capabilities that existed only on briefing slides in 2019 are now in the hands of Marines. We must maintain momentum. We will continue to iterate, improve, and accelerate procurement and fielding of key capabilities at scale.
▶ 0:24:24Per our Commandant's recent testimony, returning to a 3.0 Amphibious Ready Group Marine Expeditionary Unit ARG/MEU presence is our North Star. This remains This means, I'm sorry, one ARG/MEU persistently from the West Coast, one ARG/MEU persistently from the East Coast complemented by our forward-deployed naval force ARG/MEU based out of Japan. Our ARG/MEUs are our most flexible and responsive tools. They are critical to our national interest and indispensable to our combatant commanders.
▶ 0:24:51As part of force design, the Marine Corps identified a requirement for the medium landing ship, also known as the This capability is central to the success of our stand-in forces. It will provide maneuver, mobility, and sustainment enhanced by the ability to operate from beach to beach in the We are encouraged to be on the verge of procurement of the first article of what we call LSM block one, a non-developmental vessel. We are grateful for the congressional support for this program.
▶ 0:25:17That said, LSM is late to need, as such, we are working to mitigate this gap by executing a littoral maneuver bridging strategy. We are leveraging alternative platforms until we field LSM. Uh we will use fast transports, landing craft, and contract commercial shipping to provide necessary surface mobility when and where needed, again, until LSM is operational in There are many more essential capabilities, more material and non-material solutions that the Navy and Marine Corps are investing in and fielding, but I will hold there for now to retain time for questions.
▶ 0:25:48That said, I will state that we must move faster. We must accelerate procurement and fielding of key capabilities at scale. We must maintain our sense of urgency in the face of evolving threats around the globe the globe. Ladies and gentlemen, uh the Marine Corps is changing. We're fielding new formations and new capabilities optimized for crisis response, poised to contribute to sea denial and sea control, and in many cases, purpose-built for littoral operations. The change is real, it is necessary, and it's honestly exciting.
▶ 0:26:15But what has not and will not change is that your Marines are soldiers from the they're warfighters, naval in character, and essential component of our forward-deployed, integrated, and lethal naval expeditionary forces operating alongside our Navy partners. We appreciate your continued support, and I look forward to your questions. Thank Thank all the witnesses. Uh Dr. Seidel, first of all, happy birthday.
▶ 0:26:39Uh what steps will the department be taking in fiscal year 2026 to send a consistent and strong demand signal to our maritime industrial base? Sir, thanks for the question, and thanks for the well wishes. I I appreciate that. Uh you know, we we talked last time I was in here about the need for this consistent demand signal. Um it is critically important, I think, at in different ways.
▶ 0:27:05We have sometimes optimized around specific programs instead of the collective ecosystem. Uh we are working hard, have started having discussions around my table with our group on how to be more directive about holistic governance of acquisition so that we can send that demand signal in a healthy way. Obviously, uh this body has given us a lot of funding uh to do those things.
▶ 0:27:31Uh it's important on us to do it in a good solid way that is consistent and doesn't create cyclical problems for some of our shipbuilding. So, we're we're all about it, sir. Thank you. And just this real quick on this, do you anticipate the president's budget request to support the cadence of one Columbia and two Virginia-class submarines per year? I do. Um General Austin, what steps can we take in FY 26 to improve our amphibious ship availability through procurement and improved maintenance? Thank you for the question, sir.
▶ 0:28:01As stated by Commandant in his testimony in my opening comments, we remain very focused on a 3.0 ARG/MEU presence. And also per the 24 NDAA, we're been asked tasked to get to this continuous presence as soon as practicable. Uh the the truth is to get there, it's a balance of uh to fix what we have, work on amphibious ship readiness, and we're working closely with the Navy under the direct supervision of the acting CNO and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, uh and also buy what we need.
▶ 0:28:32Uh and so, right now we are taking a journey to chart a path, which won't happen over my overnight, but we need to understand what the requirements are to have the amphibious force that will source a continuous 3.0 ARG/MEU MEU presence. So, we are working through those processes right now. The short answer, sir, is fix what we have and buy what we need. Thank you. And you answered part of this. I'll come back if I have time about the non-developmental landing ship medium. And so I thank you for your efforts there.
▶ 0:28:58It's important that we get that program on track, keep it on track, and get the Marine Corps what they're asking for and what they need. Admiral Pitts and General Austin, can you uh can you speak to the role of USVs will play in the Navy and Marine Corps arsenal, and how can we best integrate this rapidly innovating technology? Uh thank you for the question, Mr.
▶ 0:29:23In the Navy, we are aggressively unmanned capabilities that help us bolster our depth, our reach, and our lethality of our conventionally manned And in the specific area of unmanned surface vessels, we are pursuing a family of unmanned surface vessels. Smaller ones that help us do sea denial type missions.
▶ 0:29:49And then on the medium-size level to help us do a variety of missions that either complement our manned force or replace some things that are our manned force can do. Um I I think we are aggressively pursuing these options and uh you'll probably see some more about it once we roll out PB-26. Over.
▶ 0:30:11And just real quickly, General Austin, what what the Marine Corps Sir, we are similarly experimenting with a manned unmanned teaming to sense, to communicate, and as fires platforms more in a small, gusting, medium-size unmanned surface vessel. Okay. And then finally, could each of you speak about your services' efforts to recapitalize your C-130 fleets for the latest J model? And can you describe the importance of these aircraft to your operations and strategy to minimize gaps in airlift capability?
▶ 0:30:42In the Navy, serve uh we're taking a C-130, a modified C-130 to replace our Take a Mo mission. One, two, in the reserves we're trying to replace our C-130Ts that don't have very good operational availability with our C-1 with C-130Js. Sir, as a very recent uh wing commander in Okinawa, Japan, I can tell you that uh the KC-130J is a workhorse of our uh ACE. Uh we've got uh four active squadrons, one reserve squadron we're biasing that force forward and we're an all J fleet.
▶ 0:31:13And real quickly with the time I have left, General Austin, uh what are the current plans in addition to what you've already told us for landing ship medium? Sir, the plan right now is a three-tiered approach with the first tier being per part of the 128 of the 25 NDAA to uh buy a non-developmental item uh across a a series of platforms.
▶ 0:31:32Following that, we will uh we're going to take a look, experiment, and understand what block next looks like, but we have time to to learn uh all undergirded by the bridging solution and bridging strategy I articulated to solve the problem time now for littoral maneuver, sir. Thank you. My time's expired. I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Thank you, uh Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:31:50And uh first of all, I want to thank um the witnesses for uh your testimony, which uh again, was not didn't have the full detail of a budget, but at least gave us some direction in terms of where the budget's going to go.
▶ 0:32:04And in particular, the full funding for uh Columbia, uh and also uh funding levels to to get us over the hump for a block six uh contract, which again is almost now getting on to two years uh behind schedule, which again is all about getting that procurement stability and demand signal um you know, sort of locked into to place um that's there.
▶ 0:32:27Um and having been up to final assembly um building in Groton for Columbia, I mean, there really now seems to be a real plan for critical components to come in from Newport News as well as Northrop Grumman, which I think, you know, we're pushing the the timeline in the wrong direction. And now, I think that we have a real schedule. Hopefully, you know, that's going to to move to the left. So, last year and I know Ms.
▶ 0:32:54Kiggans is is familiar with this is that industry and the Navy presented an option to the Department of the Navy the shipyard accountability workforce support size proposal, which was to allow sort of flexibility and and previously appropriated funds to be moved forward so that the shipyards could address what I think the Navy correctly identified as a real question, which is that the wage rates for people in the metal trades just were not um
▶ 0:33:25significant enough in in terms of other sectors in local economies such as retail, hospitality. Um that was not adopted, but instead, we passed a pretty uh wage improvement allocation in in the final appropriation. Uh This this week, actually, the shipyard workers are going to see their wage their paychecks go up as a result of that funding.
▶ 0:33:51And and hopefully, again, that's going to really um move the needle on hiring and retention. But, uh Dr. Seidman, um I think you understand that this has got to be more than a 1-year sort of effort. And in terms of just, again, generally speaking, do you see that sort of uh workforce focus in in terms of the budget um continuing uh for for next year? Yeah, thanks for the question. I've been up there to see the efforts at Electric Boat, too.
▶ 0:34:18And to your point, uh that organization is doing a good job right now, in my opinion, of trying to claw back some schedule and really uh provide some improvement on that that The workforce issues that you've talked about, I I certainly a great outcome to see the wage increases up there. We talked about that the last time that I was together. It is clearly a focus for us and what we're doing in support of the submarine industrial base and the maritime industrial base.
▶ 0:34:45This body has been great about providing us funding to get after it and it is going to be a continual issue and I know there's further funds being discussed this year in reconciliation as well to get after some of these issues, but yeah, it's it is the uplift that we need in all fronts to drive this industrial base improvement. Well, thank you for saying that.
▶ 0:35:08And again, this is really just about sort of resetting the labor market to what it was in the Cold War where again you had that Delta that differential that really created an incentive for for people to go into the yards. the um Just want to spend a minute on carriers with whether or not again that is still a priority for the strategic priority for the Navy and particularly is the Navy committed to continuing the FA-XX program to provide aircraft into
▶ 0:35:38the future for those carriers. Yeah, two things there certainly strong requirement for a six-gen fighter still is there and I know there's a lot of discussion about that right now, but the Navy position on that is there's a requirement that's from a carrier perspective. We've talked about this previously the importance of maintaining them on four and a half year and making sure the advanced procurement is there.
▶ 0:36:05Very critical and we're leaning into that now as well and I think we're all on the same page Thank you. I'll back. Now recognize the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Bergman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thanks to all of you for being here. Uh Number one, happy birthday. I had my parents just so you know at a data point, my parents, had they still been alive today, would have been their 87th anniversary.
▶ 0:36:33So, we have we have birthdays, anniversaries, but we have some serious discussion here. Uh Dr. Seidell, uh the House passed reconciliation bill included a 1.9 billion for procurement of eight you know, medium landing ships. Clear congressional intent to accelerate the program.
▶ 0:36:52So, given the Marine Corps' urgent need for mobility and logistics needs in the Pacific, are we moving fast Sir, I'll I'll answer a portion of this and then also allow General Austin to augment as necessary.
▶ 0:37:09Uh certainly, whenever we canceled that procurement at the end of '24 in December, uh when the cost came back uh too high, I think from that time we have moved very aggressively being in alignment with our Marine Corps partners, we developed top-level requirements. We've went out, procured designs, in the process of doing that right now to get the tech data package.
▶ 0:37:33Uh we are ready to move assuming the funding arrives uh to to to proceed with construction of uh LSM one. Uh and then we're talking about LSM block next and there's bridging strategies, but General, I'll turn it over to you for any way, may I know you'll make it short cuz I got a couple more questions and time is finite. Sir, I'll make very short. I'll just say that uh nestled within a troublesome approach to the RFP process that was canceled because it was overpriced.
▶ 0:38:01We've done some amazing behaviors in very short order gotten to where we are nearly shovel ready to move out with LSM block one. I'm proud of Okay, great. Uh again, Dr. Seidell, the lead ship of the Constellation class frigate is now 3 years behind schedule, partly due to post-contract design changes made by the government, uh something Secretary Fallon has referenced in a recent hack D uh hearing. Uh the point is, and I know he visited the shipyard I think last week.
▶ 0:38:27Can you walk us through the Navy's plans to get this program back on track and what lessons we're applying to prevent similar delays in future surface combat invest uh acquisitions? Sir, yeah, I appreciate that. You're correct. Uh the secretary had a chance to get up there and get eyes on that shipyard last week. I too have been up there. Design was a big part of this problem that created the delay. Uh we did surge designers up there over the last 12 to 18 months, 60 of them, uh to improve that.
▶ 0:38:55We're at about 83% right now on design completion. Expect to have a functional capable design uh stable design this summer. Um we also had a red team assessment. I'll try to be super quick here, but we had a red team assessment and we're looking at different COAs. The issues up there are workforce, workload, and some of the infrastructure. Uh there's been a lot of work that's gone on and and we have some different opportunity space there to improve it. Got some new leadership there now as well. Attrition numbers coming the right way.
▶ 0:39:24I'm encouraged by some of that, but we have work to do to get uh to get to the right place there. Okay. Thank you. Uh General Austin, uh can you give me just a quick assessment on how the MQ-9 Alpha uh effort is progressing and how you see this capability is evolving uh throughout our, you know, upcoming, and this is the acronym of the century, the MUX mail. I've never seen one that long, but it uh the next the Sir, that's a Marine unmanned expeditionary medium altitude long endurance. Uh we're proud of where we've come in a very short time.
▶ 0:39:53We have currently got VMU-1 forward operating out of the Philippines, VMU-3 operating out of Japan, and they are proving their worth on a daily basis to not only the stand-in force of the Marine Corps, but the joint force. And it is all about the payload, to be honest, and the reliability reliability of the platform. We're very encouraged and also by the maturity and the maturation of that community internal to the Marine Corps. So, it is acquitting itself well. We'll continue to mature that and it's more about the payload than the platform.
▶ 0:40:20So we look forward to maturing the platform we're able to. Hopefully that answers the question, sir. Thank you. Thanks. Admiral Pitts, as the lead for warfighting requirements, you sit at a key point where capability needs are identified but often delayed by the broader budgeting and acquisition Do you believe the Do you believe the current requirements process is agile as it currently exists to keep pace with the rapidly changing technological development and evolving threats?
▶ 0:40:50And if you got some changes, let's take them for the record so we don't have to talk about them here. I'd like to see a prioritized list of changes in that. Sir, I believe the acquisition process is adequate, could be improved, and that's what I'll take as a question for the record, but it's all about how can we be more adaptable and flexible in both requirements and in acquisition. Okay, thank you. And Mr.
▶ 0:41:16Seidell, as we close this out, do you claim Do you think GMI should be go back not be Kettering anymore or should it be GMI? You know, you're old whenever your school doesn't even exist anymore, but I I would be all for GMI, but you know, I think we're stuck with Kettering. Okay, thank you. I'll yield back. Appreciate it. Gentlemen's time's expired. I now recognize the gentlewoman from Maryland, Ms. Alford. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for being here. Dr.
▶ 0:41:45Seidell, I I want to just kind of have a bit of a conversation. As you know, this committee has done a tremendous amount of work on acquisition reform and hopefully we'll have a product soon. We often focus on this subcommittee and in full committee on the things that we do not very well as a DOD or or big Navy. Can you instead speak to what our peers who are just kicking our butts at this in terms of not just shipbuilding, but as you mentioned in your opening remarks relationship with industry partners.
▶ 0:42:15What do our peers do better than us that we need to learn from and that you are in this position? What what ideas are you stealing from other folks? Ma'am, if you got time for a quick story, I'll tell one. Okay, you got 4 minutes and 14 seconds. All right, so back whenever I worked with General Motors, um we were right as I came on, they shut down their Fremont plant. It was the worst running plant in our lineup.
▶ 0:42:42It had 55% uptime, criminal activity in the plant, 20% absenteeism. We shut it down. 3 years later, Toyota in an effort to get a footprint in the US did a joint venture with us and started the New Me Incorporated a joint venture with GM. They said, "Let's use that plant." We said, "Let's not. It's bad juju, right?" And they said, "No, let's let's use it." And we did. And then they said, "Let's bring the people back." And we're like, "No, you really don't understand.
▶ 0:43:09It's a Brought all the people 75% of those folks back. 3 years later, it's the best running plant in our lineup at 96% Just an incredible work environment. And when I go there, so so we would send our folks out to learn the Toyota production system. And here's the point that's that's critical. Supplier relationships there were phenomenal. The same suppliers that we had this adversarial relationship with with GM and and cost was a driver, race to the bottom.
▶ 0:43:38An entirely different animal with with with Toyota and what we did there. We have you know, we're not the GM model, but we're clearly not the Toyota model. And and we have to be better in those relationships with our suppliers. We have to be more aggressive with acquisition. I felt that when I first came here from the private sector. Barriers to movement forward was a big deal. We don't empower enough, too many layers of oversight, too much approval.
▶ 0:44:09So, quickly, sorry. It's okay. Um, but that kind of brings me I just got back from a trip with another committee to to Japan, Taiwan, and and Korea. And it, you know, we talk about tyranny of distance in this committee quite a bit, but it's another thing to see it. And it'll be a completely other thing if we are in a contested environment. And so, we talk a lot about shipbuilding here, which is we absolutely need to be doing, but we don't talk as much about repair, particularly in Indo-Pacom and in a contested environment.
▶ 0:44:35So, can you talk to me, and this is for the whole panel, about priorities and pre-positioning, um, particularly as it relates to ship I'll make a quick, uh, comment and then turn it over to my brethren here. certainly have had a chance Secretary just went to that same region. We've had a lot of discussion about maintenance, repair, and overhaul, and and where you can do that. Some of those yards are very impressive, a lot of modernization, the ability to help us a lot.
▶ 0:45:03We clearly need to be all about that, also with our Australian partners, but I'll I'll stop there and offer up others. Um, ma'am, uh, my counterpart uh, in on the Navy staff and N4, uh, Vice Admiral Jablon, is in charge of our contested logistics effort and our repair uh, efforts that during conflict. Uh, so he can speak better, and I'll take that question for the record.
▶ 0:45:30I will say on submarine side, we have our submarine tenders to help navigate uh, repair battle damage and reload capabilities as one of those ways that we would manage it in combat. Over. Ma'am, from a Marine Corps perspective, I can't talk about ship repair, but what I will tell you is logistics is the pacing function for us, and we're very focused on on logistics in a contested environment.
▶ 0:45:56To that point, uh, from the pre-positioning capability that we're getting after what we call a global prepositioning network, uh, which were started actually constructing in theater coupled with our maritime prepositioning ships, coupled with our just active and our campaigning and how we set ourselves and set conditions to transition to conflict should we need to. Thank you for the question. Thank you very much and gentlemen, I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. Now recognize the gentleman from Guam, Mr. Moylan. Thank you Mr.
▶ 0:46:24Chairman and to our guest, Dr. Shadel, Vice Admiral Bits and Lieutenant General Austin. Thank you for your service, gentlemen. Admiral, we just mentioned the the tenders. Got a question on you regarding We host the only forward deploy submarine squadron in the Pacific and is home to the Navy's two submarine tenders.
▶ 0:46:45As the Navy moves to procure two new submarine tenders with the expeditionary capabilities of our submarine force be enhanced by procuring additional tenders or by delaying the decommissioning of the two Emory S. Land class tenders?
▶ 0:47:05Thank you for the question, sir and I will say our our tenders perform superbly in executing intermediate maintenance, repairs and activity and nuclear support. And recently one of them was in Australia conducting a submarine tended maintenance availability as part of AUKUS pillar one I said I have requirements set by our battle force ship assessment
▶ 0:47:35report on a routine basis depending on national security strategy, etc. And right now our assessment is we need two submarine tenders to meet the missions and meet the force structure that we have. Now, we in the Navy will continuously assess and update as conditions change uh strategic guidance changes. but right now I'm I meet my requirements with two submarine tenders. All right, thank you.
▶ 0:48:04And as we know, Guam is the most forward deployed all right in the region. We're right in the hotspot. We're 3 to 4 hours away from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, or Chinese Communist Party. So, for Dr. Schedel, has the Navy considered forward deploying additional support assets such as oilers, salvage ships, or sea lift platforms to Guam to enhance the operational tempo, reduce the response times in the Indo-Pacific? Appreciate that question, sir.
▶ 0:48:35Um in my other role is uh performing the duties under I'm the you know, the senior defense official for Guam. And so uh clearly uh an important strategic um location for us. I intend to get out and uh go there shortly. Uh we are assessing all of those things that that you discussed there.
▶ 0:48:55Uh but I think probably best to take that question for the record and let the operational uh commander in that region probably just giving an informed assessment is probably the best path Appreciate it. Thank you. And when you do come to Guam, we'll have a birthday All right, that's awesome. I'm all in. All right. Uh Admiral, uh what considerations are being made for preposition or forward deployed unmanned surface or subsurface vessels to Guam?
▶ 0:49:21And how do they complement manned platforms in enhancing uh persistent ISR and deterrence? Uh thank you, sir. And uh yes, the Navy is uh as we develop these new capabilities that our unmanned forces can bring to bear. And they can bring resilience. They can bring extending our reach. They can bring uh uh complementing our capability.
▶ 0:49:51As we get the platforms, then we do an assessment of where do they need to be. It It's part of the calculus with unmanned things of how do I get it to the point of need. And so, part of that is where do they need to be. We work very closely with INDOPACOM and the Pacific Fleet Commanders to help help us decide where we place these overseas uh structure for these unmanned systems.
▶ 0:50:19And right now uh we have farmed them out in a variety of areas, but uh probably would need to be talked about in a classified setting uh from that point on. Understood. Thank you. Final question, best for last. General Austin, with the Marine Corps expanding its KC-130 squadron to Guam's strategic location, is there any consideration for increased basing or rotation of these aircraft through Guam for expeditionary refueling or logistic support?
▶ 0:50:50Thank you for the question, sir. And as I stated as a recent wing commander of Japan, I know Guam well and certainly value it for its strategic importance. And Anderson Air Base is a a tremendously important location for us to operate out of. I will tell you that by the simple fact that we've doubled the number of KC-130s in uh assigned to uh 3 MEF, we use Anderson much more than we used to, and we will continue to use that uh very uh frequently. It's key terrain for all in the Indo-Pacific. Um that said, there are multiple stakeholders that contribute to basing solutions and basing decisions.
▶ 0:51:19So, I'd like to take that for the record and get back to you with a more complete answer, I I thank you. Gentlemen, thank you for the protection of our nation and especially my community in Guam. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. I now recognize the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, thank you for being here. Uh happy birthday, good sir. I'm quite sure you envision spending it with Congress. Yay for you. It's a thing.
▶ 0:51:50gentlemen, thank you for being here. We're we're in an an era of transition across the country and every industry and in the Navy and shipbuilding is no exception to We're looking at new technologies and um exciting new frontiers of a very quick turnaround from from from an idea in a brilliant mind to a prototype that we have shortened that um tremendously.
▶ 0:52:19And and Congress being Congress and the DOD being DOD and Pentagon being the Pentagon we're we're slow to accept change like that. And and there's there's a certain wisdom to that level of caution. Um but there's also the demand of the of the times and the moment and we most certainly are on a clock.
▶ 0:52:45we are we are compelled to change and to reform our our our for developing ships for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. I'm an Army veteran. My dad was Navy was a Navy pilot in World War II. So, we we are we are committed together to embrace this new era but we have to do it quickly.
▶ 0:53:14And one of the the areas the chairman asked about regarding USVs that's all related as we know to the development of AI and and and you know, robotic assembly and and construction to quickly turn around an idea for the latest and best technology to a prototype, move quickly into procurement and production to put those those
▶ 0:53:44vessels in the hands of the sailors and the Marines that need Dr., can you speak to that transition as we as we move from what a did army general earlier today and ask we want to be able to buy capabilities versus buying programs. And can can you speak to that transition, Dr.? Yeah, thanks thanks, sir.
▶ 0:54:14Clearly grew up in the R&D community, spent about 20 years in that arena from a Navy perspective. You're absolutely right, technology is moving quickly today, innovation is happening, and it's necessary for us to be more agile certainly in execution years. I think it's a transition that has to for us to be successful in conflict going forward.
▶ 0:54:41I think there's real opportunity in changing some of the things we're doing from an acquisition perspective. There's work ongoing right now with with a speed act that we have talked about that I I gets after some of these problems. I really did see a significant difference when I came from the private sector to the public sector. It does slow us down. We move quicker in the private sector. We need to have that kind of agility in in the public sector as well. I think it can happen.
▶ 0:55:09New technology is not to interrupt, but the new emerging technologies that are are are giving us that ability. It not I mean when when you can move from from a an idea to a operating prototype in a in less than a year.
▶ 0:55:30If you look at what happened this last weekend with Ukraine and Russia even just to see what happens with new technology and how it can impact that that was also victory of Intel. They they got those things closer to target. So, I have a question yard repair birthing and and messing You mentioned keeping the production lines hot. Good sir.
▶ 0:55:57We Is it Is the Navy committed to keeping those production lines hot? Bottom line, that's the question as it relates to YRBM. In my opinion, everywhere that we are playing from a shipbuilding perspective, the production lines need to continue to stay hot as long as we have the requirement for Right, when you have a successful line and it we we need to eliminate the the delays like the bureaucratic delays that cause
▶ 0:56:28workforce loss and supply chain interruption. We need to keep those supply lines hot, so I concur with you on that and I look forward to working with you. Gentlemen, I have questions for the record I'll submit afterwards. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it. As chairman, I yield. Gentleman's time has expired. I now recognize the voice of the East Coast Navy and the gentle lady from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Ms. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much to our panelists for being with us today.
▶ 0:56:58I had the opportunity and privilege of visiting Military Sealift Command Training Center at Little Creek this past week and it was fascinating to see the work that they are doing. We know that the Military Sealift Command is filling a lot of our gaps in the Navy. They're an important part of the battle group right now. We also know that they are workforce challenged, very workforce challenged, so much so they've had to sideline 17 ships. So, I look at things like buildsubs.com and some of our other great PR but the Marines seem to do a great job just put a guy in a uniform on the street corner and it sells every everywhere.
▶ 0:57:27So, there's some great PR programs out there but what are we doing for Military Sealift Command cuz you talked about the two subtenders you need? I mean, I I went from eight AOEs in the in the fleet to two two or three. So, and they're they're feeling all kinds of You talk about logistics in contested environments. I mean, that's MSC right there. So, we need to be talking about them more. We need to be including them in our quality of life discussions that we did so much last Congress, but what are your What's your plan to work especially on that workforce issue? Yeah, two things.
▶ 0:57:56I think the last time that I was here, we talked about Military Sealift Command and Marad as well and and some of those joint efforts that are important for our logistics We do need to lean into that from a Navy perspective and from an acquisition I know it's slightly, you know, I know those two entities are different and yet they are connected in interesting ways. I was just up at the Philly Shipyard and visited with Marad leadership.
▶ 0:58:26I shared with this committee the last time I was in here that I would be about that and leaning into the Military Sealift Command and the Marad problem. Have done that. I know they they were using a vessel construction manager approach that I think has some utility both in support of the Navy and in support of the Military Sealift Command as well. From my perspective, we're going to continue to lean into that relationship.
▶ 0:58:51It's it's critical right now in peacetime, but in a wartime footing, it's even more critical. And I think we all recognize that we are in a pretty significant deficit right now on that So, you've got my commitment to work closely with this body and with those entities to try to improve our lot in life there. Thank you. And we're seeing those challenges and there's so much competition out there for the the people that are working with their hands like on the skilled trade shipbuilding ship repair side. So, we're competing with similar groups of people, but I think that there there needs to be a push towards that.
▶ 0:59:22We also had the opportunity to visit the Philippine Sea, which is a cruiser, and listening to their stories especially from deployment in the Red Sea with some of the fuel leak issues, and understanding that probably the cruiser in the Philippine Sea is on the decom list. And I was before I went on that visit, I was certainly a proponent of if it's not leaking or sinking, we need the ship. We We all know the statistics about how we're challenged with the the number of ships. So, after that visit though, I was a more of a believer in there are there are ships that need to be decommissioned.
▶ 0:59:50We had the opportunity to visit the Vicksburg a couple years ago, and that was kind of a failed failed attempt to keep an old ship at sea. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that were spent on a ship that was ultimately decommissioned, never returned to the fleet. So, I guess my question is how confident are we in this I I want to know what it looks like. I want to know what the real list looks like, so then I can talk about where I'm going to fill those gaps. Am I going to use allied partners? I know I'm excited about Philly shipyard. There's a lot of opportunities and discussions and officer shipbuilding, all those good things.
▶ 1:00:19But, how confident am I in this decom list that I have? Cuz I I kind of want it presented truthfully, so that I can can cry and, you know, cry inside me be upset and sad and kind of, you know, finish the grieving process and move on with it. thank you for the question, ma'am. Uh I would just say as the owner of the warfighting requirements process and the shipbuilding plan, we we look very very closely at the proposed decom list.
▶ 1:00:49And we look at what is what brings the most warfighting What is the most sustainable? What is the most um in the best shape relatively. And it the onus is on us to do our proper maintenance so that we keep them as as best as we can in shape. And in in your example, the cruisers are our least capable ships because they have the most obsolete combat control system. They're in the worst shape.
▶ 1:01:17They're most expensive to maintain, and they have the most expensive manning model right now. Um we have suggested decommission them so that I can use the funds for modernization of my DDGs, which are much more capable, and bring the combat capability we need in that forward flight, which is why you will see us extending some of our destroyers in order to fill the gaps our cruisers were were leaving. And Sir Flat said the same thing.
▶ 1:01:46We met with him about we could extend those to he said a hundred plus years, but but a lot more years. But uh and can you just speak a little bit about if you although my my time's expired, so I I'll I'll submit another question for the record, but I appreciate that. Thank you. I now recognize the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Virginia, former chair of this subcommittee, Mr. Wittman. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to thank our witnesses for joining us. Dr. Sidael, I want to focus on Virginia class submarines.
▶ 1:02:15We know the strategic and tactical overmatch that they give Uh it's disappointing to see the production rate still at 1.1 per year. And when you combine that with our obligations in AUKUS, uh we are on a very very bad path here. Can you tell me since 2018, Congress has appropriated nine billion dollars towards the effort to increase Virginia class production. Don't look like to me the needle's moved. Can you tell me where did that nine billion dollars go?
▶ 1:02:42Secondly, is we know that we have to make sure that we are looking at the long term. And last year's budget came over with uh with the predicate that the reason we weren't going to more than one was because we couldn't produce more than one. Now, we see what you what you've given to us as a production rate now.
▶ 1:03:07Are we going to see the same thing this year with the PB coming over with only one submarine in the face of knowing what we need with the Virginia class capabilities, and then our obligations in August trying to get some partners in to help us with that. This doesn't seem like to me that we're in a scenario where we're taking advantage of what we know is an undersea superiority with the track that we're on. Yeah, Representative Wittman, thanks for the question.
▶ 1:03:33In in answer to the last part of it, don't expect a similar pressurization in PBX 26 that we had in 25. Don't don't see that happening. To the to the $9 billion question, and I think it's an important one. This body has been solid with us on providing monies for the submarine industrial base that has now then become kind of our effort with the maritime industrial base.
▶ 1:03:57A lot of those funds, as you know, have went to the submarine community both in support of Virginia and I I would tell you we have this discussion a lot. Uh that those efforts have been about workforce hiring and retention. They have been about supply chain resiliency, modernization of the yards, strategic outsourcing, infrastructure issues.
▶ 1:04:18And if you go to any of to those sites where we're where we're working, um we we have seen absolute improvement in those arenas. The problem is building these ships take a long time, and we're not seeing it yet on the tail end of this, the ships coming off faster. So, there's always this question is our money being put to good use. I I would tell you that it is. I can go through the data.
▶ 1:04:42I've done that some here with this group on the improvements that we've seen in workforce, uh supply Um so, so I I believe I appreciate one that what you're doing for us, and believe there's good goodness happening. Uh this this past week, unfortunately, an announcement of almost 500 layoffs there at at Newport News Shipbuilding, not the direction that that that we need need to be going in. I want to also talk about the importance of certainty in the Ford class program.
▶ 1:05:12Uh we know making sure that we do long lead time material purchase, advanced material purchase is key with that. We know that keeping that tempo up is important. We know that maintaining a less than six-year center puts us in that sweet spot as far as workforce and utilization of resources. Can can you give us an idea about where you see that going? Cuz I know there's been some talk about moving the advanced procurement from FY '26 to FY '27.
▶ 1:05:40If we do that, all of a sudden our centers now get out of sequence for getting to that sweet spot, and then all of a sudden we're going to be back to having layoffs again longer periods of time. And we know we know what happens with that. We know it cost more to build a ship when you elongate the period of time center to center. And we know that you have to reconstitute workforce cuz you're laying people off and then bringing them back, the very thing that we want to avoid. Yeah, thanks for that.
▶ 1:06:05First and foremost, certainly in the same place that you are on the advanced procurement, and we're working to make sure we have that in '26. It is I also agree that we need to stay on four-year centers. I know we we had a block buy for 80 and 81, saved about $4 billion for the taxpayer.
▶ 1:06:25We also believe that a block buy for 82 and 3 would save an additional $5 So it is critical cuz as you elongate those centers, it does create exactly the kind of problems that you talked about. We are also I'll just say for that that class, it's the most survivable, lethal, adaptable airfield in the world, and it is doing a great job. It's not lost on me that every time something happens in the world, we say where are carriers? It's the first question.
▶ 1:06:54And then the second question is which one are we sending to the region? 78 and 9, a lot of learning taking place from that. That's paying some dividends in 81 now. I know we had some out of sequence material in 80 that's caused some delays, but we're seeing improvements on 81 even though it's still early in the build. Um but like what I'm seeing there. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Courtney, who's also a East Coast Navy guy. Uh Mr. Courtney. Thank you, uh Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:07:24And uh first of all, I just want to also uh join my colleagues in terms of wishing you a happy birthday. I haven't gotten to know you over the last 6 to 8 months. Actually, I think this is your idea of a fun way to celebrate your birthday. That's a little sad, sir, but yeah. Yes, that's the um And again, you know, Mr. Whitman's comments about um the build rate is obviously something we watch um like a box score that's here.
▶ 1:07:48I would note the tonnage volume, though, is going in the right direction and that your testimony about the fact that the Wisconsin lessons learned on the Columbia program, I think is really going to help get Columbia uh you know, get uh you know, in a virtuous cycle in terms of its production cadence, which is going to spill over into the Virginia program. But we've definitely still got more work to do. And the And the wage um improvement issue, which I you and I discussed earlier, I think is key.
▶ 1:08:18I'll I'll yield back. With that, I thank the witnesses for your testimony here today. Uh do you have something, Mr. Can we go to a second round? Well, if we do, it's going to go uh Mr. Higgins had some, and Miss Kiggans had some, so That That's That's fine. It will What it What What you want to do. Uh yeah, true. Yeah. Okay. Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Always gracious.
▶ 1:08:46I I have a question doctor, and and perhaps all you gentlemen can address this regarding connected to our earlier conversation regarding new technologies. Um how how is the Navy addressing and leveraging and entering the realm of new technologies that include AI and 3D printing for
▶ 1:09:16construction. This is it's a fascinating new new realm. And it's important that we embrace it and I did my question for follow-up was going to be that. So if you shall be could perhaps address that. Yeah, first uh from an additive manufacturing perspective, I will tell you that a lot of that work with the Civ and the MIB that we talk about, the the advanced manufacturing piece of that is us leaning into additive. One of our next SSG and availabilities will have 33 additively manufactured parts.
▶ 1:09:46So I think we're making good progress there uh to try to lean into that. To your point about artificial intelligence, I think we are sitting on a sea change in how we do a lot of things and I think that capability has um you know, it it has the potential to change our approach in a lot of different ways.
▶ 1:10:07Um and we've been having discussions about how we lean into that better uh to ensure that we're moving at pace on what AI can mean for us not just in business systems, but also in our shipyards and in our production arenas. Um quite frankly, we haven't leaned into that enough yet uh but but having a lot of discussion and about the impacts positively that can make. Yes, sir. Admiral. Yes, sir. I would say we are AI is galvanizing our fleet.
▶ 1:10:38Um every domain uses AI in some form or another in its uh combat systems or weapon systems or navigation and and command and control systems. We have a partnership, a trilateral partnership as part of AUKUS Pillar Two uh AI mechanisms through combat systems.
▶ 1:11:03And then on the uh process side in our maintenance, as we do our perform to plan on our maintenance to improve our surface ship and submarine maintenance, we see big promise with uh artificial intelligence in helping us navigate through the processes so that we can make improvements there. Thank you for the question, uh Sir, I'll tell you I'd like to start with the the additive and advanced manufacturing part first and then go to the artificial intelligence.
▶ 1:11:31And I will tell you that uh one of the hardest things about requirements for the United States Marine Corps to be expeditionary and the opportunity to 3D print parts at the forward edge is tremendous and tremendous value added. So, we're working hard. We have got additive manufacturing capabilities at the aviation combat element at the intermediate level. We've also got them in our Marine Logistics Groups. We just need to kind of tip the the curve to really start to use those based on data rights and the ability to use those in specific components for some of our more complex systems.
▶ 1:12:00We're all about that and we see the value added. So, we're leaning into that, sir. Shifting to artificial intelligence, I'll simply say it is becoming ubiquitous in terms of its impact to business process internal to the Marine Corps. We're working hard to to clean that up, but probably more important is war fighting and decision making and one third place I will mention is our modeling and simulation and war gaming. We've got a new Nellis Center stood up in Quantico.
▶ 1:12:27We're working through the software that's going to underpin it and it's actually going to enable us to use artificial intelligence to war game with physics-based models at velocity at speed to inform our resource investments and that's another exciting opportunity. So, it's it's coming, sir. We're using it. Thank you, gentlemen, for that answer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the additional question. I yield. Thank you, Mr. Higgins. I now recognize the gentleman from Virginia again, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:12:56Lieutenant General Austin, I wanted to go to you cuz I think the emphasis on Amphibs, especially as we have a global crisis response force need is more important than ever, and I think the 3.0 ARG/MEU presence is one of the top priorities in the Navy Marine Corps team, and obviously that doesn't come easy.
▶ 1:13:16It takes a lot to be able to sustain that, to be able to field that, and it starts initially, in my mind, with making sure we have the requisite number of amphibious ships, and we know that that is a a hard a hard place to be, even though we placed the 31 requirement in the law. We know the effort that it takes to be there. It's not just maintenance, but it's also build rates, and we know we have to ramp up LHA production.
▶ 1:13:39We know that based on some evaluations, the the projections are a little overly optimistic as as far as what we need to do to get there. But, give me a a on what you believe it will take to get to and maintain a 3.0 ARG/MEU presence, and looking at all the aspects, maintenance, manning, building, the whole perspective. Sir, it's good to see you. Thank you for the question.
▶ 1:14:07It's an important question and one that we're trying to tackle right now. Thank you again to our Congress for our 31 ship, you know, mandate, which is our floor, which we don't think is adequate to meet the 3.0 ARG/MEU presence. And then the subsequent 24 NDAA, the the the direction to figure out how to get to a 3.0 continuous presence as soon as We understand that it requires, again, inventory and readiness, and we're working closely with Admiral Pitts and his team.
▶ 1:14:36We're working very closely time now to resolve that, to understand what the number the inventory requirement is, coupled with assumptions tied to readiness, which as uh, Admiral Pitts said, and we're we're we're working through the amphibious readiness is not where it should be right now. We've got a lot of work to do, and we're we're partnering on that as well. Um, that said, once we, concur on the number, uh, which we we are very pressurized by our Commandant and our acting CNO to get to that number, uh, we're going to do a full analysis to understand the fully burdened cost to get to that number.
▶ 1:15:06It's not going to happen overnight, but we have to start sometime. We have to start now. Congress has told us to do this, so we're getting after that right now. So, that's the process we're following. I don't have a an answer except to tell you right now, sir, that 31 is not adequate to get us to a 3.0 ARG/MEU presence. Uh, I hope that helps, and I'd be happy to expand, sir. Yeah, I just I I want to dig down a little bit into that. I know that under contract now is LPD 32, uh, LHA 9, but we know that LPDs are about 6.5 years in construction, LHAs about 7 years in construction.
▶ 1:15:37So, as we look at where we need to be in the future with that 3.0 ARG/MEU presence, I know that, uh, you know, amphibious warship procurement, uh, and construction, uh, is unfortunately, in my mind, occurring at a slower rate than the amphibious warship decommissioning, which makes it, uh, a track meet that's hard to win.
▶ 1:15:57Your when your competition's running faster than you are, and the competition is the decommissionings, uh, the challenge becomes, um, I think we need to accelerate LPD centers and LHA centers. Uh, can you give me a a perspective on how you think that should be reflected in the shipbuilding plan?
▶ 1:16:18Cuz obviously that's how we look out in the future, and it's at least how we send the demand signal about where we need to be to put in, as you've said, the Marine Corps's look and calculation about how do we get there? How do we get to that 3.0 ARG/MEU presence? How do we get to the 31 Uh, yes, sir. Thank you for that, uh, expanded question. If I may answer it briefly, then I'd like to offer Admiral Pitts an opportunity to reflect, too, as we're working very closely on this, if that's all right, sir, but Yes. Yes.
▶ 1:16:42First, uh, one of the things that we're going to have to do time now is to maintain our inventory is take a look at midlife upgrades to our LPD fleet and we're going to have to take a look at extending one of our current HDs wasp class in order to meet the 10 ship big deck minimum requirement and we're in discussions about that. Beyond that it's just what you said.
▶ 1:17:01First I want to thank the Congress for the authorities to do the multi ship procurement that was awarded last September which is an amazing opportunity for the defense industrial base and for the Navy and Marine Corps to build a continuity and the predictability. We're we're thrilled about that. Material point we need to take a hard look and figure out how to close those centers for both LPD and LHA to get the inventory we need to get to the number that we're working to find right now sir so I'd like to offer a I'd like to give an opportunity to talk. Thank you smash.
▶ 1:17:32I got 20 seconds to to top that but I'll say we are working incredibly closely together. I agree that it is the procurement We're actually in a good position I It's the maintenance piece that we got work to do and we are doing it and we started with signature availability pilots where we basically lock down the work package much sooner at like 500 days before we start it and then go to contract at 360
▶ 1:18:02days before we start it so that the maintenance team can get all the material be better prepared and then we can get our amphibious ships in and out of maintenance so that the Marines can use them for training. I would I would say this I would encourage the to do this you have to do this cuz it's it's it is not relevant in relation to getting the 31 unless you are palming for amphib maintenance.
▶ 1:18:30If you don't palm for it it's not going to happen because it shows that it's not a priority there so my big ask of the Navy is in your palm, make sure your palm includes maintenance for amphibs. If it does not, we will never ever get there. And I'm I'm going to implore you to do that. If I don't a a request in the palm for amphib maintenance, I believe me, you will be hearing back from me. Thank you.
▶ 1:19:01Having heard from all witnesses and had questions, the second round the hearing is now adjourned. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.