SASC adds 10th ship; 5% pay raise

The Senate Armed Services Committee authorized the Navy to buy 10 battle force ships in its version of the FY 2024 annual defense policy bill, an increase from nine ships the service requested; and a 5.2% pay increase for service members and civilians.

The legislation will go to the Senate floor. It approves one Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, two Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Virginia-class attack boats, two Constellation-class frigates, one San Antonio-class LPD-17 Flight II amphibious transport dock, one John Lewis-class fleet oiler, and one next-generation submarine tender replacement known as AS(X).

[The Arleigh Burke destroyers and amphib transport dock ships have been built by HII-Pascagoula.] 

The Senate’s bill matches the House ASC's amended legislation authorizing 10 ships.

Both chambers authorized the Navy to buy an LPD-17 Flight II ship the service did not request. 

Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the chairman of the SASC seapower subcommittee, noted there is a legal requirement for the Navy to have a floor of 31 amphibious ships. The current FY 2024, 30-year shipbuilding plan does not achieve that mandate, he claimed. 

Asked why? The answer, according to Kaine, is because Office of Management and Budget, White House and SECDEF decided it didn’t make the cut. The SASC bill orders them to "give us a shipbuilding plan that shows how they get to 31.” 

Within two months of the NDAA becoming law, the Navy must submit a new shipbuilding plan to Congress that shows it achieving the 31 amphibious ship floor, according to Kaine. 

“We’re putting them on notice," Kaine said, and will impose financial consequences on particular Navy operations and maintenance accounts if they don’t comply.

The bill also stops the Navy from decommissioning one Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and three Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships early, according to a SASC summary. (USNI 06/23/23) SASC Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Bill Calls for 10 New Ships, Demands New Shipbuilding Plan - USNI News