Letter to Secretary Gates on DDG-1000

The irony is, the Senators and Congressman are being factually correct in this letter, and the Navy would love people to beat up their elected officials for this. Indeed, the Navy's entire "stay silent" strategy has been to hope that by saying nothing good about the DDG-1000, Americans ignore that the Navy is breaking virtually every single rule of acquisition that would normally be put in place to protect taxpayer money. The Navy is counting on Americans, in particular bloggers who tend to favor sensationalism, to be ignorant to what the Navy is doing when in fact all budget numbers that have been released show the DDG-51 replacement program is at least the same cost as the DDG-1000 program being cut, assuming no cost overruns make it even more expensive.

March 20, 2024


The Honorable Robert C. Gates
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Gates

As you know, last year’s Department of Defense Appropriations Act provided partial funding for the third DDG-1000 and directed the Navy to budget for the remaining funding requirement in FY10. Congress expects the Navy to adhere to this direction; therefore, we write to urge your support for full funding of the DDG-1000 program in the FY10 President’s budget, and request that you continue a thorough and transparent review and evaluation of the Navy’s proposal to truncate the DDG-1000 program and restart DDG-51 production.

We remain very concerned about the Navy’s long-term shipbuilding plan. Despite several months of Congressional and Department of Defense requests for further analysis, the Navy has yet to provide sufficient justification in support of the proposal to truncate the DDG-1000 program and restart DDG-51 production. We continue to await an in-depth comparative analysis of the DDG-51 and DDG-1000. The Navy’s failure to provide such a detailed cost analysis strongly implies a lack of supporting documentation of the Navy’s position and undermines our confidence in the merits of the Navy’s plan to truncate the DDG-1000 program. Congress must have this information before acquiescing to a change of this magnitude.

Supporting the DDG-1000 program will enable the Navy to leverage $11 billion in already invested research and development funding. The ship has been designed with significant growth margins including power, cooling, space, and weight to enable rapid enhancements to meet evolving threats in the existing hull. We believe that continued production and delivery of DDG-1000 class destroyers is essential to the long-term stability of our shipbuilding program and the timely delivery of needed capabilities to the Navy.

With respect and appreciation, and thank you for considering this request.


Sincerely,


Edward M. Kennedy
Jack Reed
John F. Kerry
Sheldon Whitehouse
Nikki Tsongas
Patrick Kennedy
Michael Capuano
James McGovern
Michael Michaud
Paul Hodes
Richard Neal
James Langevin
Stephen Lynch

It is a quark that the only new shipbuilding program on cost and schedule is the DDG-1000. I still can't find anyone outside those directly involved in industry building the DDG-1000 who believes the program will actually stay on budget, anyone that is, except the Navy folks who testify in front of Congress under oath! You can't make this up...

I know it is unpopular to say, but if it was me, I'd build at least 4 DDG-1000s while moving with all haste into designing a brand new 10,000 ton future surface combatant (FSC) and a CG(X) intended to provide theater BMD.

I know, that choice sucks, but the sad reality is the shipbuilding plan is such a total disaster the DDG-1000 is the least painful way to support industry and transition towards a future plan. If you want to know who to blame, find the very top Admiral in the armed services and examine his record...

or simply ignore accountability, analysis, justification for decisions, and tell your political leaders to make defense decisions on a gut feeling, kind of like what the Navy is doing with the DDG-51. I'm sure in hindsight taxpayers will feel really good about those many billion dollar 'gut' decisions they advocate for in defense. Actually, the Navy is counting on exactly that.