{"id":51173,"date":"2025-06-26T20:25:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T20:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/06\/26\/navy-budget-seeks-to-boost-modernization-of-fleet-shipyards\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:22:43","slug":"navy-budget-seeks-to-boost-modernization-of-fleet-shipyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/06\/26\/navy-budget-seeks-to-boost-modernization-of-fleet-shipyards\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy budget seeks to boost modernization of fleet, shipyards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Navy put forward a budget request of $292.2 billion<\/a>, some of which it intends to use to increase its fleet of warships and modernize century-old shipyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As proposed, the fiscal 2026 defense budget would require two congressional bills to be passed \u2014 a base budget and an upcoming reconciliation bill. The Navy is seeking $248.9 billion in the base budget and $43.3 billion in reconciliation funds, according to budget materials released Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, the Pentagon is requesting $848.3 billion for fiscal 2026<\/a>, a cut to core military spending when accounting for inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The requirement of two separate bills is a matter which has recently drawn criticism from lawmakers<\/a>, since critical Navy goals would seemingly rely on reconciliation funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recommended during a hearing Tuesday an increase in the base budget, saying, \u201cReconciliation was always meant to be just a one-time funding surge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s portion of the budget requests a shipbuilding fund of $47.4 billion, with $26.5 from reconciliation funding. That amount would go toward procuring 19 battle-force ships in fiscal 2026, with funding for the vessels split between the base budget and reconciliation funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three ships, including one Columbia-class submarine, one Virginia-class submarine, and one T-AGOS ocean surveillance ship, have funding allocated from the base budget, with the remaining 16 budgeted from mandatory, or reconciliation, funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The request comes as government officials and experts have expressed concern<\/a> at the state of the American shipbuilding industry, which has fallen well behind production levels of its rivals from the People\u2019s Republic of China<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy remains years behind in projected ship deliveries<\/a> and cannot provide firm timelines for improvement, military officials told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the Navy\u2019s proposed budget would go toward modernizing its drydock facilities, which on average are over 107 years old<\/a>. Those include the Navy\u2019s four public shipyards at Norfolk, Virginia; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Portsmouth, Maine; and Puget Sound, Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget notes that the shipyards themselves are \u201cfacing a critical age crisis.\u201d As part of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP), $989 million is being sought toward modernizing outdated shipyard facilities. Additionally, $2.2. billion is requested for modernizing Marine Corps installations. <\/p>\n\n\n\t