What you need to know about the FY21 Budget: The Drift, S. II, Vol. XIV

Navigation Brief

Here’s what you need to know about the FY21 Budget: The Drift, S. II, Vol. XIV

ALEXANDRIA – Good evening, Drifters

The Navy’s FY21 budget dropped this week, and as usual it’s a lot to digest.

Budget Day is a lot for we members of the defense press corps, it’s a full day of briefings followed by frantic typing, followed by more briefings. And if you’ve never taken time to watch the briefings, they don’t go out of their way to exhilarate.

If you want to get a feel for the excitement, you can watch that here.

Navy Official Briefs Reporters on Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request

I’m betting that you didn’t get a chance to read absolutely everything there was to read on this years’ rollout, and I’m still working through the budget documents myself. But in the interest of trying to be helpful, I decided to combine The Navigation Brief and The Hotwash into one Navigation Wash, or Hot Brief, or something. Point is, I’m switching up the format just a touch to give you a Quick Reference Guide on what’s out there and what things jumped out to your humble Navy correspondents.

So, Let’s Drift!

DBL

The 21 Budget QRG

Those Quick Reference Guides in the saddlebag strapped to your console chair in CIC or CCS really were handy, if you ever took the time to read them. One of the things that bugged me as a sailor was asking a question and getting the answer “Did you check the instruction?” or “Did you check the QRG?” It’s not the most helpful response but you usually could find what you were looking for in said references.

I’ll strive to make this as a useful means of quickly referring back to the main points of discussion around the budget. So if someone asks you a question about FY21, you can respond: “Hey, shipmate, did you read the QRG?”

Here goes.

Esper’s Soft-Pedaling

Last Friday, my colleague Aaron Mehta was summoned to the Secretary of Defense’s office to discuss the 355-ship Navy with Mark Esper. I can’t assume someone’s motivations, but if I had to guess I’d say Esper probably figured the budget, which was ultimately going to slow the rate of growth of the fleet over the next five years if enacted, would be a point of discussion.

Here’s what he had to say in brief:

Esper is committed to a 355-ship fleet
Said fleet needs to be lighter and start incorporating unmanned technology
Carriers are valuable, but maybe the Navy needs to think about lighter carriers
Columbia is a Navy bill, and shipbuilding is going to pay for it, if he has his say.

Essential Reading

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on how the Navy can get to 355 ships

Defense Secretary Esper says nuclear missile sub is ‘the Navy’s bill,’ setting up a fight with Congress

The Shipbuilding Account

The Shipbuilding and Conversion account, or SCN, got wrecked in 2021’s request. It took a 17 percent cut overall, requested six ships and two towing and salvage vessels, and generally disappointed people looking for more of a commitment to a 355-ship fleet.

The budget:

Cut a Block V Virginia from the budget in 2021
Cut an FFG(X), which the Navy said was to avoid making the mistake of trying to move too fast
Looks like a mess over the FYDP, including cuts to five of the 13 Flight III DDGs in the FY20 budget

The Navy says they’re just living within their means and aren’t going to hollow out the force to pay for shipbuilding. Here’s how Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget Rear Adm. Randy Crites describes the predicament.

The Quote: “A lot of it is tied to: 'Is it going to build the most capable Navy within the resources that we had? We have a flat topline and we’re trying to fund Columbia class, which was our highest priority. It’s what we can afford. We can’t hollow out the force. We have to continue the vector we are on to recover our readiness.”

Essential Reading

Esper backs a bigger Navy fleet, but moves to cut shipbuilding by 20 percent

Congress

Is pissed.

Congress is underwhelmed by this budget to say the least. See, they were under the impression they had passed a law saying the Navy was to aim for 355 ships, and this budget gets the Navy to a fleet of 305 at the end of the FYDP, just 11 more ships than they have today. Then to hit that goal they’d need to add 50 more ships in five years. Unlikely.

Congress’s main beefs are:

Only eight ships? They bought 13 last year
Columbia is funded completely out of shipbuilding, and despite what Esper says, Congress may have a different opinion about how it’s funded, per House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Mac Thornberry
The cutting of a Virginia-class submarine was particularly galling to lawmakers, and its unlikely to stand.

Essential Reading

Navy’s New Shipbuilding Plan ‘Dead on Arrival,’ Lawmakers Say

The US Navy’s budget looks headed for the Congressional shredder

R&D

One of the real bright spots in this budget, overall it saw a $1.1 billion increase over last year’s request.

The R&D account does a few neat things, including: