CNO: Lobbyists diverting priorities

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, chided defense contractors that lobby Congress to buy certain defense systems is taking attention away from the service’s spending priorities. “It’s not the 90s anymore,” CNO said here at the Navy League’s 2021 Sea-Air-Space conference. There has to be a “sense of urgency” when it comes to the Navy’s needs for shipbuilding and maintenance; and stop being pushed into “buying aircraft we don’t need.” Industry pressure is “not helpful.”  CNO spoke to the needs of the decade is to go after readiness, training and capacity systems laid out in the Navy’s “navigation plan,” which he says is bigger than shipbuilding. (Source: USNI News 08/02/21) CNO Gilday Wants Industry to Focus on Shipbuilding, Readiness Not Lobbying for Aircraft 'We Don't Need' - USNI News