Navy Submitted Proposal To Decouple Used And New Sealift Buys

摘要

A Navy official confirmed Wednesday the service submitted a legislative proposal that would decouple the Navy from having to buy new auxiliary vessels in order to also buy used sealift ships. “We’ve put forward a legislative proposal that decouples the procurement of the used ships…to get away from the mandate to buy the new ships. That does not mean we are walking away from the construction of new ships, but what it does is it allows us to procure used ships at a faster rate,” Vice Adm. Ricky Williamson, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics (N4), said while testifying before the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittees. This proposal goes beyond the Navy’s FY 2021 budget request that seeks $60 million to buy two used sealift vessels in FY ’21 and plans to buy another one in FY ’22 while also requesting $37 million in research and development funds to purchase a design for a new ship that would start building in FY ’23 and be delivered in FY ’26. After the hearing, Williamson further explained the reasoning to reporters.