Kelly: Sealift Capacity Is Critical To Sustaining America’s Military Advantage

Washington, D.C., March 18, 2026
"The United States Transportation Command and Maritime Administration – TRANSCOM and MARAD – provide vital logistics capabilities to support our force projection and help overcome the tyranny of distance," Rep. Kelly said. "It’s only getting harder to move and sustain our equipment and our people across these vast distances....We have to grow the Tanker Security Program fleet…recapitalize our organic sealift fleet…and address our aging strategic airlift, intra-theater airlift, and aerial refueling fleets."
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, delivered the following opening remarks at a joint subcommittee hearing on the posture of U.S. Transportation Command and the Maritime Administration in Fiscal Year 2027.

Rep Kelly's Statement As Prepared for Delivery:

Before we start, I’d like to take a moment and remember all the casualties from Operation Epic Fury, including the six fallen Airmen from last week’s tragic crash of Zeus 95. 

Our thoughts go out to the family members — we mourn with you. 

The KC-135 community is a large one, and this loss has reverberated across it.  

Today, it is good to be back with our Readiness colleagues for another joint hearing.  

Our topic is the posture and readiness of our mobility enterprise. 

Thank you to my good friend, the Seapower Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney, as well as Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Jack Bergman and Ranking Member John Garamendi, for their collaboration on this critical, often-overlooked topic.

The United States Transportation Command and Maritime Administration – TRANSCOM and MARAD – provide vital logistics capabilities to support our force projection and help overcome the tyranny of distance. 

It’s only getting harder to move and sustain our equipment and our people across these vast distances.

However, this mobility is the foundation of our ability to project peace through strength.

This challenge will require both organic and commercial logistics capabilities. 

Within the Seapower jurisdiction, the subcommittee continues our strong support for the Tanker Security Program as well as the Maritime Security Program. 

The FY25 NDAA strengthened these programs, and we stand by to provide any additional statutory changes that assure our access to critical sealift capacity for liquid and dry cargos on U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed commercial vessels. 

But there is always more work to be done with regard to our ever-growing logistical challenges. 

We have to grow the Tanker Security Program fleet to the 20 vessels that are authorized, and we need to increase the number of reps and sets we are getting to prepare to meet future needs. 

We need to get the ship-to-ship refueling capability installed on these ships as soon as possible. 

I was saddened by the reports that a TSP vessel was struck by Iranian projectiles while in a maintenance availability in Bahrain. 

I look forward to an update on that vessel’s long-term status and efforts to grow the TSP fleet with more government cargoes. 

For dry cargoes, we must have organic and commercial capability. 

Recapitalizing our organic sealift fleet through a new build sealift program remains a top priority for both subcommittees. 

Used, foreign-built ships are fine as a short-term bridge solution, but not in the long term. 

I hope that our witnesses today may provide an update on the new build effort, including the design funded in FY24 and the path forward with the considerable funds provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Our mobility requirements extend beyond the surface of the world’s oceans. 

We also cannot afford to reduce our air mobility. 

Our strategic airlift, intra-theater airlift, and aerial refueling remain crucial enablers of our force projection. 

These fleets are aging, and recapitalization efforts, like the KC-46, are challenged or still in the analysis stage. 

We have seen in Operation Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury the pivotal role tankers play in operations, and we continue supporting an even higher number of tankers and the Next Generation Air Refueling System program.  

We need more capacity across the board.

As we see the increasingly adversarial behavior of the PRC in the Indo-Pacific, it’s more important than ever that we are able to clearly and forcefully project American power across the globe. 

TRANSCOM and MARAD are essential to this mission, and I look forward to today’s discussion of how we can meet these challenges and work together towards peace through strength.