Congress Plans to "Fix" 2-Year Aircraft Carrier Funding Delay - Ensure China Deterrence

Any air campaign to counter a Chinese attack upon Taiwan would have little chance of success without US Navy aircraft carriers
KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN - CENTER FOR MILITARY MODERNIZATIONUPDATED:APR 3, 2024ORIGINAL:APR 3, 2024
By Kris Osborn, Warrior President, Center for Military Modernization

“Five acres of sovereign US territory,” were words used by Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va. to describe the irreplaceable value of US Navy aircraft carriers, symbols of US power and force-projection capacity.

 Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., echoed this sentiment andclosely aligned with Wittman’s sensibility by referring to the seriousness of the threat environment and a commensurate need to ensure stable funding for aircraft carrier construction. Kaine said the current funding impasse, which as pushed back funding for the next Ford-class carrier by at least two years, is in part due to spending caps put in place. During an event on Capital Hill, Kaine pledged to assure the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition that he and other members will endeavor to secure consistent carrier funding.

 "Challenges are growing by the day in every theater, and we need to send the right demand signal. I don't like that we are sliding backward. We are not going to meet our own needs or the needs of our allies unless we find a fix to this," Kaine told an audience on the Hill. 

Wittman described the need for carriers in the context of what he argued was an extremely dangerous modern threat environment. As part of this, Wittman cited a number of key variables, such as the pace at which China continues to build and add carriers. The Congressman, who is the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, cited Iran, China, Russia and other countries as extremely credible threats to take seriously.

https://warriormaven.com/sea/congress-plans-to-fix-2-year-us-navy-carrier-delay-to-preserve-deterrence

Army leader dismisses House proposal for drone branch creation

“Operating and defending against the drone threat is something that will be experienced by, you know, all formations at multiple echelons,” said Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo.
By   ASHLEY ROQUE
on May 17, 2024 at 2:22 PM
 

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are poised to vote next week on a measure establishing a US Army drone branch, but Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said such a creation isn’t warranted right now and could hamstring service plans.

“It’s an area of specialization that probably isn’t necessarily warranted at this time,” Camarillo told reporters after a Center for a New American Security event today.

“Operating and defending against the drone threat,” he later added, “is something that will be experienced by, you know, all formations at multiple echelons.”
 
Camarillo’s comments come just days before members of the House Armed Services Committee are slated to mark up the fiscal 2025 defense authorization bill. Ahead of the marathon event, this week Chairman Mike Rogers released a package of changes likely to be included in the bill, including a provision for the Army to establish “Drone Corps as a basic branch.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/05/army-leader-dismisses-house-proposal-for-drone-branch-creation/