By U.S. Sen. Susan Collins(R-Maine)
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have worked hard to ensure that the men and women of our military have the best possible resources to defend our nation. As a Senator representing the State of Maine, I am proud of the key role the men and women of Bath Iron Works have played in meeting this obligation. “Bath built is best built” is more than a slogan at BIW; it is a tradition forged through more than a century of hard work, innovation, and a commitment to excellence. Now, BIW is poised to add to this tradition as one of two suppliers of the U.S. Navy’s next generation destroyer, the DDG 1000, the Zumwalt class.
The DDG 1000 has been developed specifically to meet the national security demands of the 21st Century, with capabilities that do not currently exist in the Navy’s surface fleet. These capabilities include far greater and more precise firepower, advanced stealth technologies, and numerous engineering and technological innovations that allow for a reduced crew size.
The DDG 1000 has had the strong support of our top Navy commanders since its inception. Indeed, as this project was taking shape in 1995, Admiral Vernon Clark, then Chief of Naval Operations, testified before Congress that he was “unequivocally in full support of the (DDG 1000) program. The failure to build a next-generation capability comes at the peril of the sons and daughters of America’s future Navy.”
Unfortunately, there are members of the House who have chosen to second-guess the experts, and who could deny our future Navy the ship of the future. They seek to cancel out the DDG 1000 program at just the two ships already ordered, rather than the planned complement of at least seven.
Instead of moving into the future, they would retrofit the current destroyer, the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class, with a nuclear propulsion system. This would require enlarging the hull, which raises serious questions of seaworthiness. It would severely hamper the implementation of advanced technologies, and it would sacrifice the personnel efficiencies the DDG-1000 offers. In addition, top Navy officials are deeply concerned that a greatly expanded nuclear fleet would outstrip the availability of the highly trained personnel to operate nuclear systems. Perhaps most troubling, this reversal of course would jeopardize the two-shipyard strategy that is essential to our national security and that I have fought hard to preserve.
Maine does not currently have a member on the House Armed Services Committee or the House Appropriations Committee. I will continue to use my voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee to speak up for the DDG 1000, our shipyard, and the Navy.
On February 28th, our Committee held a hearing to assess the Navy’s future needs. Among our witnesses was Admiral Gary Roughead, the current Chief of Naval Operations. It is clear that Admiral Roughead is dedicated to the DDG 1000 program. He emphasized the importance of the advanced technologies the DDG 1000 will introduce that can be applied to new ships of other classes. He confirmed that reducing in crew size – from 338 for the DDG 51 to 142 for the DDG 1000 – is essential for the Navy to meet future challenges.
And he confirmed my position that a two-shipyard strategy with a consistent and predictable workload is vital if we are to keep our shipbuilding workforce intact. To lose these dedicated men and women to other
fields would have disastrous consequences to our nation’s future. I have accompanied Admiral Roughead on tours of Maine’s BIW and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. He took the opportunity at our hearing to again praise the quality of work and the commitment he saw there.
During my time in the Senate, I have had the pleasure of joining in many celebrations at BIW for christenings of DDG 51’s built there. In 2005, I was honored to serve as the sponsor of DDG 99, the Farragut. I will continue to be a strong advocate for our Navy and our shipyard so that BIW will continue to hold many more celebrations as the DDG 1000 program moves full speed ahead.
