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U.S. NAVY SHIP PROCUREMENT Second Quarterly Update—November 1985 by James McCaul, President International Maritime Associates This is an excerpt from the sec- ond quarterly update to the IMA report on U.S. Navy Ship Procure- ment. Information is current as of 8 November, except if noted. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS The number of Navy ships under contract continues to decline. Re- ports indicating significant future shipbuilding program cutbacks have appeared in the press. A twin-hull Photo—Newport News Shipbuilding, Inc. T-AGOS has been scheduled for late 1986 procurement. And Navy has dropped its plans to continue developing -JTIDS, a sophisticated tactical warfare communications system. Ships Under Contract Navy has 94 major ships and about 40 small craft under contract in U.S. shipyards. In contrast, 114 major ships were under contract in mid-1983. Exhibit 1 provides a sum- mary of work in progress and the scheduled delivery dates. Future Program Cutbacks? On 23 September the New York Times reported top DOD officials as saying budget cuts will affect the Navy's five-year shipbuilding plan. Wiliiam Taft, the Deputy Secre- tary of Defense, is reportedjis^say- ing 20 warships are to be cut from Navy's five-year plan. He is quoted as saying the cutback in escort ships has "called into question our ability to ever flesh out 15 carrier battle groups." Two recent congressional staff documents have questioned the af- fordability of future navy shipbuild-ing. A staff working paper by the Congressional Budget Office con-cludes that maintaining the future 600-ship Navy will require funding levels 20-60 percent higher than the present level (in real terms). A 30 August report by the Congressional Research Service points out that Navy has already downrated its cruiser/destroyer force objective from 137 ships to 115 ships. The CRS report goes on to ask "is the projected cruiser/destroyer shortfall a harbinger of future clashes be- tween stated Navy requirements and available resources?" Navy Developing T-AGOS SWATH Procurement Package Navy plans to contract for a 3,000-ton small-waterplane-area twin-hull (SWATH) design T- AGOS in late 1986. Ten shipbuild-ers are now participating in a Navy- industry design program for SWATH. Each of the ten yards has donated one technical person for a six-month period to help in the design. Only the yards participating in the cooperative design will be invited to bid on the construction contract. The current T-AGOS design is considered insufficiently stable in heavy seas. A SWATH design pro-(continued) 14 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
