The US Navy is asking for $3.7 billion from Congress in its recently issued unfunded priority list. This year’s request is centered around investments for the Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) and infrastructure improvements in Hawaii and Guam.
The list breaks down into $2.2 billion for programs and $1.4 billion for military construction.
The Navy’s number one priority item is $405 million for workforce development, infrastructure, and supplier capacity building improvements in the Submarine Industrial Base. In its fiscal year 2025 budget, the Navy requested $2.9 billion in new investments for the SIB, for a total of $3.9 billion. If funded by Congress, this would bring the total investments for the SIB in FY25 to $4.3 billion.
This is followed by $600 million for repairing the Glass Breakwater in Guam which was damaged by Super Typhoon Mawar last year. The Navy states that the request “…funds repair of the Breakwater as a high priority to ensure the integrity of Apra Harbor and the Navy’s ability to sustain forces…”
The third item on the list is the Navy’s Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3). The Navy requests $105 million to address equipment obsolescence issues, restore and modernize the communication infrastructure that supports the nation’s Strategic Deterrent at sea.
For the undersea realm, the list includes a $75.2 million request for Subsea and Seabed Warfare (SSW) systems such as the TETRA Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and the Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA).
Another $184 million is requested for the transition of the Hunter payload for the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) to a program of record and one Orca XLUUV prototype equipped with the aforementioned Hunter payload system.
In terms of munitions, the list includes a $92.9 million request to procure additional recertification materials for Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IIIA/B missiles. Funding for this would increase recertification capacity which allows the Navy to replenish missiles expended by ships in the Red Sea.
Additionally, the list includes $50 million to procure four additional Mark 48 Heavyweight Torpedoes (HWT) and lastly $124 million for a single KC-130J.
For military construction (MILCON) projects, the list includes a $505 million for a water treatment plant in Hawaii to address the contamination of groundwater caused by leakage from the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Additionally, $580 million is requested for the construction of a new hangar to replace a hangar lost to Super Typhoon Mawar’s devastation.
The Navy also requested $214 million for the Incremental funding of a replacement for Dry Dock 3 at its Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard as part of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP).
Lastly, the list includes a $45 million request for Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC) modernization and $105 million for a Waterfront Production Facility at Pearl Harbor.