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Summary

At a July 31, 2008, hearing, Navy officials announced a major change in the service's position on what kind of destroyers it wants to procure over the next several years: The Navy testified that it no longer wants to procure additional Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyers, and instead now wants to restart procurement of Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) destroyers. The Navy has proposed this new path as part of internal Department of Defense (DOD) planning for the FY2010 defense budget to be submitted to Congress in early 2009. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has reserved judgment on the Navy's proposal, pending further analysis, but gave the Navy permission in late July to brief the proposal to Congress. Prior to changing its position, the Navy had wanted to continue procuring DDG1000s, and did not want to procure any more DDG-51s. Navy plans had called for procuring a total of seven DDG-1000s. The first two were procured in FY2007, and the Navy's proposed FY2009 budget, submitted to Congress in February 2008, requests funding for a third. The three DDG-51s procured in FY2005 were to have been the final ships in the DDG-51 program, and Navy budgets since FY2006 have included funding for closing out the DDG-51 program. Until the July 31 hearing, the Navy for several years had stressed the need for procuring additional DDG-1000s, defended the DDG-1000 program against various criticisms, and rejected proposals for stopping DDG-1000 procurement and for resuming procurement of DDG-51s. Although the Navy's proposed FY2009 budget requested funding for procuring a third DDG-1000, Navy officials suggested at the July 31 hearing that they would prefer Congress to instead fund the procurement of a DDG-51 in FY2009. On August 18, 2008, however, OSD and the Navy informed Congress that OSD had directed the Navy to support the procurement of a third DDG-1000 in FY2009. The issue for Congress was how to take the Navy's new position on destroyer procurement into account in marking up the Navy's proposed FY2009 budget. Potential oversight issues for Congress include the timing of the Navy's announcement of its new position, the availability of the Navy's analytical basis for its new position, the changed threat assessment that the Navy says underlies its new position, the Navy's selection of the DDG-51 as the ship best suited for responding to the changed threat assessment, the Navy's description of the DDG-1000's anti-air warfare (AAW) capabilities, and the industrial-base implications of stopping DDG1000 procurement and restarting DDG-51 procurement. Congress has several options regarding destroyer procurement in FY2009 and subsequent years. This report will be updated as events warrant.

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