The House Armed Services Committee has asked the Department of Defense to submit its three-decade shipbuilding plan for fiscal year 2021 by Feb. 27 and provide an update on the status of the Force Structure Assessment.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), chairman of the House panel’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee, and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the subcommittee’s ranking member, made the request in a Wednesday letter to DoD Secretary and 2020 Wash100 Award winner Mark Esper.
The correspondence was made in response to the department’s FY 2021 budget request for the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding programs. The lawmakers said the Pentagon’s proposed budget represents a 20 percent reduction in the number of ships to be procured between 2021 and 2025.
