Today, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, made the following opening statement on the hearing, "Game Changers - Undersea Warfare."
"As the members of this Subcommittee and our witnesses are well aware, America’s ability to project power overseas is currently being challenged by the rapid growth of other nations’ military forces and the fielding of novel capabilities that undermine our freedom of maneuver and action and threaten to deprive our nation of the many benefits we derive from our command of the seas. If we remain on our present trajectory, I fear we may see our seapower and power projection capabilities eclipsed, and our influence eroded in critical regions overseas.
In the past, Congress has responded to similar threats by undertaking great expansions of our air and maritime forces. Championed by legislators like Carl Vinson, these buildups reenergized American seapower and projection forces and sustained them for another generation.
Given the challenges and constraints we face today, however, I believe a different response from Congress and the Pentagon is required. Building more things will be part of the solution, but it is my belief that what we really need at present are new things—innovative capabilities and concepts that will “change the game” in the many areas of military competition where the trends are unfavorable.
Today, this Subcommittee kicks off a series of hearings examining potentially “game-changing” concepts and capabilities with a look at the undersea domain. This is a domain in which the United States has for decades been dominant—and benefited immensely from it. Our superiority in this domain has enabled the United States to surreptitiously collect sensitive intelligence, hold at risk foreign fleets, attack targets on land without warning, and maintain the secure second-strike capability that is essential for deterrence.
While surface ships and forces ashore are coming under increased threat from anti-access/area-denial capabilities and being forced to operate at longer ranges, U.S. submarines still enjoy freedom of maneuver and the ability to operate with near impunity under the sea. In the view of many respected defense leaders and analysts, this provides an enduring strategic advantage that the United States should leverage to “offset” competitors’ growing strength in other areas.
Unfortunately, as with so many elements of our fleet, the demand for undersea forces currently exceeds the supply—and the situation is forecast to grow worse. At present, the U.S. submarine fleet is able to meet only 65% of commanders’ requests for forces. Under current plans, the Navy’s submarine fleet will shrink by 25% between now and 2030, with our fleet of attack submarines shrinking from 53 to 41 boats. Over that same time period, we stand to lose 60% of our undersea payload capacity as our four SSGNs are retired from service.
So, at a time when our submarine force will likely be called upon to do more than ever, it is also going to be at its smallest size since World War II. At the same time, our existing sensors and weapons should be expected to decline in effectiveness as our adversaries’ own capabilities improve.
Fortunately, the submarine community is aware of the challenges and opportunities it faces, and we are privileged to have two of its leading thinkers here before us to discuss them:
• Retired Vice Admiral Michael J. Connor, Former Commander, Submarine Forces;
• Mr. Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
These two submariners have been at the forefront of undersea innovation, and I am eager to hear from them what new undersea concepts and capabilities the Navy is currently developing, and what more might be done to sustain and exploit our dominance in that critically important domain.
