Continuing Resolution Puts U.S. Navy Maintenance, Recruitment at Risk
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a continuing resolution (CR) rather than a budget to fund the federal government for the rest of the year, leaving funding levels effectively flat across the board. Without a normal appropriations bill, the military services lack the funding to offset inflation and the authorities needed to conduct new programs. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Kilby said that the CR would have several significant effects: at a time when the Navy is working hard to maximize readiness, the flat funding of a full-year CR puts maintenance availabilities for 11 ships at risk. These yard periods would have to be pushed to next year or skipped altogether, which would create growth work and unexpected issues during the next maintenance availability.
The timing is poor for the Navy. Facing a growing challenge from China's massive fleet, and unable to compete with the PLA Navy on quantity, the service has embarked on a plan to do more with what it has. Under now-departed CNO Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy set a goal to achieve 80 percent surge availability across the entire fleet, matching its targets for aircraft availability. That target remains in place under VCNO Adm. Kilby, who is performing the duties of CNO following Franchetti's dismissal.
"Our goal is to achieve and sustain an 80% combat-surge ready (CSR) posture. We began these efforts with naval aviation in 2018, improving the operational availability of tactical aircraft. We are now scaling our efforts across all aviation platforms, as well as in the surface and submarine communities," Adm. Kilby said in prepared testimony.
In addition to the effects of a CR on maintenance and readiness targets, Adm. Kilby warned that the lack of a proper budget could interfere with the service's progress on recruiting. The Navy had a serious recruiting shortfall in 2023, but made an all-out effort to turn it around and succeeded last year in hitting its numbers. Navy recruiters are outperforming targets this year, and the service is on track to reach 100 percent enlisted rating fill by the end of 2026 - so long as the CR doesn't derail the effort.
"I'm very concerned about the impact of the CR on that machine and slowing it down. We want to bring in all the people we need and bring down our gaps at sea, and a CR makes that a little more challenging," said Kilby.
The committee sought input from service leaders on what could be done to allow the armed forces to make the most of the funds they have, including more flexibility to use appropriations for new purposes. Kilby emphasized the value of budgetary flexibility to adapt to new technology and new threats - for example, to pivot funding to meet new drone and missile risks in the Red Sea. These changes are hard to do under a continuing resolution, Adm. Kilby said, so having more flexibility in the budget from the start would allow the Navy to make do more easily when a CR occurs.
Civilian DOD layoffs and an ongoing military-wide hiring freeze are a concern for the service leaders, but Kilby noted that two critical groups - public shipyard employees and the Military Sealift Command mariner pool - are exempt from these workforce reduction initiatives.
The Navy also came in for criticism for the persistent maintenance issues in the amphibious fleet, which have caused friction between the Navy and the Marine Corps for years. Just 13 out of 32 amphibs are currently available for deployment, and General Christopher J. Mahoney (USMC) testified that the current levels of amphib capacity are "not going to do it" to generate USMC warfighting capability. "We have got to get ahead of the maintenance curve, and that means years ahead," said Mahoney. Ranking member Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) expressed frustration that the Navy has not solved this problem, and called the low level of amphib availability "unacceptable."
Congress Cuts Frigate and Landing Ship Programs to Fund Extra Destroyer
The House Republican caucus plans to pass a continuing resolution (CR) rather than a budget to cover the remainder of the fiscal year, a procedural option that keeps federal spending at constant levels and avoids a difficult fight over spending priorities. Overall, the proposed CR would raise defense spending by $6 billion year-on-year, roughly $16 billion below the amount needed to keep up with current levels of inflation.
The U.S. Navy has historically disliked CRs because they disrupt long-term shipbuilding and maintenance plans, which rely on a steady increase in funding levels. This one is different: it also adjusts several important line items, including an apparent cut in funding for the delayed Constellation-class frigate program.
The proposed CR sets a budget of $233 million for the Constellation-class for FY2025, a fraction of the $1.2 billion that the Navy requested this year. (The CR also includes five cost-to-complete adjustments for the frigate totaling $400 million, which will cover prior-year shipbuilding cost increases from FY2020-24.)
Also on the list of cuts is the Landing Ship Medium, a key priority for the Marine Corps and a frequent point of friction for the Navy. The line item for this intratheater transport ship has been reduced to just $30 million, down from a requested amount of $268 million.
The CR also boosts funding for destroyer construction by an unrequested $1.5 billion. The Navy typically buys two destroyers a year from GD Bath Iron Works in Maine and HII Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, and its long-term shipbuilding plan calls for orders of just under two per year through 2050.
In the past, defense officials have expressed skepticism about whether the two yards could follow through if given an order for a third destroyer a year. "We don’t see the yards being able to produce three a year. We don’t see them being able to produce two a year. And that’s just data," Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord told USNI in 2024. "Everybody’s struggling with skilled labor. Everybody’s struggling with supply chains."
Maine and Mississippi have politically powerful representation on the House and Senate Armed Services committees; Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Roll Call that the funding for an extra destroyer was justified, given the strong recent performance of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the Red Sea.
The U.S. Navy Wants a Subsea Crawler to Defeat Sea Mines
The U.S. Navy is interested in developing a remotely-operated robotic bottom crawler that can detect and disable sea mines and other threats on the seabed.
The service is seeking an unusual combination of exquisite attributes. The crawler must be lightweight (under 150 pounds) and must be able to swim on the surface autonomously for two nautical miles to reach offshore locations. It must be able to operate in water depths of up to 2,000 feet, and must be able to carry modular payloads of up to 100 pounds. In addition, it must be able to power itself - and any power-consuming attachments, like disruptors, short-range diagnostic sensors, and manipulators - for at least six hours at a time. One requirement is entirely unique to a mine clearance application: the device must meet specifications for low magnetic signature so that it can get to within three feet of influence-activated mines.
When submerged, the device would release a tethered float that would rise to the surface and enable a radio-frequency command link to operators on shore or in a nearby boat. Supervisory autonomy is desired but not a requirement.
"There is no commercial capability available" for an off-the-shelf solution, the Navy noted in a solicitation issued late last year.
Subsea crawlers have existed for years for research and cable-lay applications, but none have mine clearance capability. Commercially available base models include the Bayonet series by GreenSea IQ and the Geomar Viator, but these devices greatly exceed the weight limit specified by the solicitation, and lack the swimming self-deployment capability.
If successful, the crawler program may later become classified, the Navy said in its solicitation. Only U.S. firms can participate.
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