WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, on Monday released the following statement on the announcement that the U.S. Navy plans to procure only one Virginia-class fast-attack submarine (VCS) in fiscal year 2025:
“The fiscal year 2025 budget request’s proposal to procure just one Virginia-class submarine would be a concerning departure from our two-per-year production goals, putting at risk U.S. undersea superiority and alliance commitments made under AUKUS to improve Indo-Pacific security. For years, Congress, the Department of Defense, and workers and small businesses in Connecticut have been working hard to restore the submarine industrial base, and we cannot afford to take a step backward now. Dialing back submarine procurement in fiscal year 2025 threatens to slow progress in strengthening our nation’s submarine supplier base and workforce, making it more difficult to upgrade our submarine fleet and meet mounting global threats on the timeframe our national security requires. We can’t risk slowing the rejuvenation of the submarine industrial base, driven in no small part by local innovation and new good-paying jobs across Connecticut. We look forward to learning more from the Administration and the Navy about the rationale for this decision, and we will do everything we can in the Senate to ensure a final fiscal year 2025 budget supports the submarine industrial base, Connecticut’s world-class manufacturing workforce, and our national security goals.”
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