“Five acres of sovereign US territory,” were words used by Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va. to describe the irreplaceable value of US Navy aircraft carriers, symbols of US power and force-projection capacity.
Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., echoed this sentiment andclosely aligned with Wittman’s sensibility by referring to the seriousness of the threat environment and a commensurate need to ensure stable funding for aircraft carrier construction. Kaine said the current funding impasse, which as pushed back funding for the next Ford-class carrier by at least two years, is in part due to spending caps put in place. During an event on Capital Hill, Kaine pledged to assure the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition that he and other members will endeavor to secure consistent carrier funding.
“Challenges are growing by the day in every theater, and we need to send the right demand signal. I don’t like that we are sliding backward. We are not going to meet our own needs or the needs of our allies unless we find a fix to this,” Kaine told an audience on the Hill.
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