Kelly: We Must Turn the Tide on Shipbuilding
House Subcommittee Chairman Calls for Stronger Navy Shipbuilding Investment in FY27 Budget Hearing
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee issued a forceful call to reverse the Navy’s pattern of retiring more vessels than it builds, warning that the practice is no longer sustainable given the current global security environment.
Kelly Sounds the Alarm on Fleet Divestment
Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), who chairs the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, delivered opening remarks on May 20, 2026, at a hearing examining the Navy’s fiscal year 2027 budget request. Kelly framed the hearing around a central concern: the United States cannot continue drawing down its fleet faster than it builds new hulls.
“Retiring more hulls than we procure is simply not an option anymore,” Kelly said. “We are not going to sacrifice capability in a critical window for deterrence.”
Kelly pointed to a worsening global threat picture, arguing that conditions over the past year have made the case for investment even more urgent. His remarks set the tone for a subcommittee hearing that covered submarines, amphibious ships, aircraft, and munitions programs essential to American naval power projection.
Virginia-Class Submarines and Amphibious Readiness
Among the specific priorities Kelly highlighted, he emphasized maintaining the procurement rate of two Virginia-class submarines annually while pushing for faster production. He also pressed for accelerated timelines on amphibious warfare vessels, warning that current schedules are degrading Marine Corps readiness.
Kelly noted that slow amphibious procurement is making it increasingly difficult for the Navy and Marine Corps to sustain a continuous 3.0 Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit presence — a key benchmark for forward naval presence and rapid response capability.
A recurring theme in his remarks was the damage caused by inconsistent congressional funding signals. Kelly said that “hot-and-cold demand signals from Congress” have long hampered shipbuilding programs, and argued that rebuilding the maritime industrial base requires stable, predictable investment — not cyclical bursts of funding followed by cuts.
Aviation and Munitions: The Broader Deterrence Equation
While shipbuilding dominated his remarks, Kelly was explicit that deterring great power rivals also depends on aviation platforms and precision munitions. He pointed to the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and KC-130J tankers as critical aviation assets, while naming the SM-6 missile and heavyweight torpedoes as munitions programs central to the Navy’s deterrent posture.
Kelly welcomed the funding levels included in the President’s budget request, describing the proposed budget authority for shipbuilding, aviation, and munitions as a meaningful first step. However, he was careful to manage expectations, calling it the beginning of what will require a sustained, long-term effort to rebuild both military capability and the industrial base behind it.
“Only then can we truly deliver on the promise of peace through strength,” he said in closing his prepared statement.
A Pattern of Concern from the Subcommittee
Kelly’s May 20 statement is part of a sustained push from the subcommittee on maritime readiness. He delivered similar warnings in earlier hearings this year, including remarks in April focused on the risks of complacency in shipbuilding and a March hearing on sealift capacity as a strategic asset for sustaining military operations abroad.
The consistency of Kelly’s message reflects growing concern among Republican defense hawks that the Navy’s fleet size and production pipeline are misaligned with the demands of great power competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. With the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act process now underway, the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee is positioned to play a central role in shaping how Congress responds to the Pentagon’s shipbuilding requests.
The hearing included the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan and the Future Years Defense Program as reference documents for subcommittee deliberations. Ranking Member Joe Courtney was recognized for remarks following Kelly’s statement.
Source: House Armed Services Committee, armedservices.house.gov. Opening statement delivered May 20, 2026.