|
WASHINGTON -- The Navy Marine Corps
team will revolutionize naval warfare with the programs funded in the FY05
budget, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Vern Clark said at a House
Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing March 17.
"The budget lays out our future in the form of
the Littoral Combatant Ship (LCS), DD(X) [next generation destroyer], CVN 21,
the Joint Strike Fighter; unmanned vehicles in the air, on the surface, and
under the sea; the Virginia-class submarine, SSGN [guided-missile submarine],
and an array of advanced aircraft," said Clark.
Among these platforms, Clark singled out DD(X) as
playing a critical role in the transformation of the Navy.
"I don't believe there is a program out there
that is more vital to changing the way warfare in naval services is going to
be conducted in the next 50 years than DD(X)," said Clark. "You
want an enemy to have to work hard to deal with you, and that's why you want
to build a ship like DD(X) that has a radar cross section of a fishing
boat."
Testifying together with the CNO and Commandant of
the Marine Corps Gen. Michael Hagee, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England said the FY05 budget lays
the foundation for the future naval force.
"This is a critical budget year for the
Department of the Navy," England said. "This year, we
did establish a future course for our naval forces to more quickly respond
and to more quickly defeat future threats."
In addressing future amphibious platforms, Clark stressed the importance of
the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) (MPF(F))
and the Landing Helo Assault (Replacement) (LHA(R)). The CNO said these new amphibious
capabilities will change the way the Navy Marine Corps team fights together.
"MPF(F) and LHA(R) will
define how the Navy and Marine Corps team works together in the future,"
Clark said. "This new
concept for the Navy Marine Corps team will take the next step in
expeditionary warfare, producing the kind of quick response and global reach
capability that will revolutionize the way we fight as a team for this
nation."
The commandant thanked the representatives for
supporting the Navy Marine Corps team, and visiting Sailors and Marines on
the point.
"This support is really critical to ensuring
that we remain an expeditionary force that is most ready when the nation is
least ready," Hagee testified.
The CNO said the Fleet Response Plan (FRP) and Sea
Swap are two of the many initiatives the Navy is exploring to maximize
operational capability and availability, while providing the best value for
the nation – producing the right readiness and delivering the right
capability at the right cost. The Navy may soon implement the Sea Swap
program on a forward deployed Expeditionary Strike Group.
Clark said FRP and Sea Swap both
increase the Navy's flexibility, but he repeated his commitment to six-month
peacetime deployments.
"That means you rotate the crews because we made
a commitment," Clark said. "In peacetime
operations, we're committed to six-month deployments. In war, we'll do
whatever we need to do to meet the needs of the nation."
"You have to keep a healthy rotation because
people have lives," Clark added. "Sailors
enlist, but families reenlist, and we haven't forgotten that."
As the Navy transforms to face the threats of the
21st century, the CNO reiterated his commitment to invest the necessary
resources in the growth and development of Sailors who serve in it.
"We have a better quality Navy and Marine Corps
team today than at any time since I've been serving," Clark said. "They believe in
the importance of what they are doing today, and they are responding to the
signals and support that our citizens are sending to them."
|