The U.S. Navy is declaring significant delays in a number of its key modernization programs for fiscal year 2025 because of stringent budget caps and a need to prioritize current operations and personnel. This will further delay the development and procurement of large unmanned systems, next-generation ships, and aircraft.
The Navy is seeking to buy only six ships in its FY25 budget request, compared with seven previously planned. It includes one attack submarine, less than the two planned, and trims the research and development budget by 2.7%. Funding for military construction will be slashed as much as 26.1%.
Under Secretary Erik Raven placed more emphasis on the sea-based components of the nuclear deterrence triad, mainly the Columbia-class ballistic submarine and the Trident nuclear missile. “Our guidance directs us to take risks in future modernization when there are hard choices to be made,” he added.
In particular, these Navy operational demands in the Middle East have quickened the drain on missiles and ship readiness. This has been an unforeseen expenditure; the Navy may begin requesting a supplemental spending bill from Congress in FY25. The missile and drone attacks against warships and merchant vessels in the area by forces of the Houthis in Yemen have increased these costs.
Going forward, the Navy is also making plans for fights over the next several years, if needed. Analysts maintain that 2027 will be a pivotal year in a potential invasion of Taiwan, and so the Navy has delayed funding for various major purchases that would not be available this decade. Instead, the Navy has concentrated on smaller systems that can be fielded more quickly.
One example is the next-generation Navy fighter, the F/A-XX, which will get just one-third of the $1.5 billion requested in FY24 in the coming budget. Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds said this delay would give more time for technology maturation, but once more, the Navy said it was committed to the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems.
Similarly, the next-generation attack submarine SSN(X), and the next-generation destroyer DDG(X) are also suffering from budget cuts and delays. At the same time, the procurement schedule for the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel has been delayed by two years, while funding adjustments for the Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vessel have kept the program on schedule.
Despite these delays, the Navy is pushing several smaller unmanned systems from research and development into procurement and testing phases. The budget funds the Medium USV and Medium UUV, both of which are moving towards fielding. The Navy also will contribute to the Pentagon-led Replicator program, which could deploy thousands of drones into the Indo-Pacific theater.
For example, the FY25 budget request of $32.4 billion for six ships is down from the previously planned seven: two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, one Constellation-class frigate, one Virginia-class attack submarine, one San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, and one landing ship medium. It also delays the purchase of the next aircraft carriers, pushing back CVN-82 from FY28 to FY30.
It would retire 10 ships before the end of their planned service life, including two Independence-variant LCSs and the four oldest Expeditionary Fast Transports. These cuts would reduce the fleet from 293 today to 287 ships in FY25.
The budget is also proposing the procurement of 75 manned and unmanned aircraft for which $16.2 billion is requested, including 13 F-35B and 13 F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, 27 Multi-Engine Advanced Training System trainers, 19 CH-53K heavy lift helicopters, and three MQ-25 Stingray unmanned refueling aircraft.
The Navy projects weapons procurement at $6.6 billion, down slightly from the $6.9 billion in FY24. Also included in the budget is $227 million to support the weapons industrial base to increase missile production and shoring up the supply chain for critical components.
However, the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile program has slowed up a bit in tests and development, though the Navy is still budgeting $904 million for the program. The budget also proposes $2.8 billion for dry dock repairs and upgrades at public ship repair yards and $407 million for modernization efforts at Fleet Readiness Centers.
These changes in budget underscore the strategic shift undertaken by the Navy in balancing the immediate operational needs of the service with modernization goals in both the near and far term to assure readiness in both the present and well into the future.