Sec. 138. Sense of Congress on aircraft carrier procurement
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Congress finds the following: The aircraft carriers of the Navy are a cornerstone of the Nation’s ability to project its power and strength. Construction of Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers represents a national effort which requires predictable and stable build schedules and alignment of purpose between the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, and the aircraft carrier industrial base. The aircraft carrier industrial base includes more than 2,000 companies in 44 states that contribute to the construction and maintenance of these complex and technologically advanced ships.
The benefits of stable, executable aircraft carrier procurement plans extend throughout the aircraft carrier industrial base, promoting the development and retention of highly-skilled workforces and capital investments in world-class manufacturing and shipbuilding facilities throughout the Nation. Aircraft carrier procurement plans accompanying the President’s budget request for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 forecast procurement of CVN–82 in fiscal year 2028, however, the fiscal year 2025 plan defers procurement until fiscal year 2030, creating a significant and destabilizing production gap for the aircraft carrier industrial base.
It is the sense of Congress that— the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy should implement aircraft carrier acquisition strategies that maximize benefits to operational commanders while simultaneously protecting the interests of the taxpayer and supporting the national nuclear shipbuilding industrial base; the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy should review and revise the acquisition strategy, including a two-ship buy of CVN–82 and CVN–83, for Ford-class aircraft carriers in the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 to ensure it is consistent with accepted shipbuilding industrial base analyses, prior Department recommendations, reports to Congress, congressional resolutions, section 8062 of title 10, United States Code, and national security interests; and the Secretary of Defense should request procurement of the CVN–82 carrier not later than fiscal year 2028.