Tuesday, February 28, 2017

For 355 Ships, Find a Bit more Than 1%

That magic number, 355;
A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office finds the Navy would have to spend $25 billion a year for 30 years to reach its stated goal of a 355-ship fleet, $6 billion a year more than if it stayed on its current track for a 308-ship fleet.
Let's take those numbers as granted. Let's place on the table the $6 billion, and put this next to it;
President Trump is proposing a massive increase in defense spending of $54 billion while cutting domestic spending and foreign aid by the same amount, the White House said Monday.

Trump's spending blueprint previewed a major address that he will give Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, laying out his vision for what he called a "public safety and national security budget" with a nearly 10% increase in defense spending.
To get the President's stated above-the-fold goal of 355 ships, 11% of his proposed increase in the defense budget would need to go to shipbuilding. Or, if you extrapolate that out, roughly 1% of the total defense budget.

Remember, the President is a real estate developer. 1% of total cost is not even a minor upgrade. More than any other aspect of his military proposals, a lot of personal capital has already been invested in an increase in the Navy's number of ships. Those that want to push back are going to have a very hard slog.

No comments: