Navy Aircraft Carriers: Proposed Retirement of USS John F. Kennedy -- Issues and Options for Congress
Abstract
In December 2004, the DoD issued a budget-planning document called Program Budget Decision (PBD) 753 that sets forth a number of adjustments to the FY2006 budget and FY2006-FY2011 Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) that DoD is to submit to Congress in early February 2005. One of the adjustments is to retire the conventionally powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in FY2006 and thereby reduce the size of the carrier force from 12 ships to 11. The proposal would not retire any other ships or any of the Navy's carrier air wings. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the proposal to retire the Kennedy and reduce the carrier force to 11 ships, should such a proposal appear in the FY2006 defense budget. PBD 753 estimates that retiring the Kennedy in FY2006 would reduce DoD funding requirements for FY2006-FY2011 by a net total of about $1.2 billion, or about 4% of the $30 billion in net savings proposed in PBD 753. Prior to PBD 753, the Navy's plan was to keep the Kennedy in operation until 2018. The Kennedy was scheduled to begin a $350-million, 15-month overhaul later this year. The Navy and DoD reportedly are also considering eventually reducing the carrier force further, to 10 or 9 ships. Many observers consider the Navy's carriers to be its most important ships, both operationally and symbolically. Carriers and their air wings are considered particularly useful in situations where U.S. access to overseas air bases is absent or restricted. One issue for the 109th Congress is whether the carrier force should include 12 ships or some other number. If a carrier is to be retired in the near term so as to reduce the carrier force to 11 ships, a second issue for Congress is whether that carrier should be the Kennedy or another ship. Potential alternatives to retiring the Kennedy are discussed. A third issue for Congress concerns the relative military advantages of different homeporting arrangements for the carrier force.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA472554
Entities
People
- Ronald O'Rourke
Organizations
- Library of Congress