Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
09/25/2015
Funding the $100 billion Ohio Replacement (OR) amid an austere federal budget environment is the leading challenge facing new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, according to House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-Conn.). Richardson will need to provide “thoughtful and creative solutions” to fund the roughly $100 billion Ohio-class Replacement in an austere budget environment, the lawmaker said in a prepared statement last Friday, when Richardson was sworn in.
“Admiral Richardson faces a complex set of challenges in his new position, from addressing the Navy’s investment and modernization priorities within an uncertain budget climate to making the right decisions today to meet our force structure and capability needs in the future,” Courtney said. “Looming largest, though, is need to advance the Navy’s and the Defense Department’s No. 1 priority: recapitalization of the next class of ballistic missile submarines. Meeting this multigenerational commitment will require thoughtful and creative solutions to resource this strategic asset while also preserving other critical naval priorities, and I look forward to Admiral Richardson’s active and constructive dialogue with our panel on this important topic.”
Richardson was sworn in on Friday, ending a nearly four-year run of retired Adm. Jonathan Greenert as CNO. Courtney’s district includes Groton, a key manufacturing hub for General Dynamics Electric Boat-led OR procurement.
