Letter to the Speaker of
the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate Reporting on
Authorization Requests for Ship Procurement for Fiscal Years 1987 and 1988
Dear
Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
This
letter is submitted in compliance with Section 7310(b) of Title 10, United
States Code. That section requires me to provide the Congress with my
conclusions with respect to the survivability, cost-effectiveness, and combat
effectiveness of any new ship requested for the combatant forces; a
recommendation whether the ship should be nuclear or conventionally powered;
and the reasons for my conclusions and recommendations. Authorization is being
requested for Fiscal Years 1987 and 1988 for the ships listed in the attachment
to this letter. All of these ships are considered to be combat effective.
Because ships last 25 to 30 years or more, their effectiveness will be enhanced
in the future as new equipment is added. Combat effectiveness is judged in
terms of the ability of each ship to accomplish the mission for which it was
designed. In all cases, these ships provide more capability than the ships of
comparable type of class that are scheduled to be retired as the new ones are
delivered.
The
ships are considered to be cost-effective in relation to the various missions
they are to perform. In determining cost-effectiveness, consideration is given
to several factors, including alternative power systems and alternative weapon
systems that may be used to accomplish the missions of the ship and the fact
that it is difficult to prorate the total cost of a ship among all of the
missions it is designed to perform. Cost-effectiveness is considered acceptable
for the continuing programs requested for Fiscal Years 1987 and 1988 because
the ships can accomplish their primary missions and because nonrecurring costs
have been incurred and production is underway. The LSD - 41 Cargo Variant is
the only new ship class not included in previous authorizations. It will be a modified
version of the LSD - 41 amphibious ship design with
greater cargo capacity than the LSD - 41. Six LSD - 41 class ships have
previously been authorized.
Conventionally
powered propulsion systems are planned for the AEGIS Cruiser (CG - 47), the DDG
- 51 Destroyer, the LSD - 41 Cargo Variant, and the LHD - 1 Class Amphibious
Assault Ship since these systems are adequate for these ships to accomplish
their missions and have lower procurement costs. Nuclear power is proposed for
the TRIDENT and SSN - 688 submarines. In view of higher investment costs of
nuclear-powered ships, I believe that nuclear power should be limited to those
ships for which clear benefits are derived. Compared to the missions of surface
ships, submarine missions provide a much greater opportunity to capitalize on
the benefits of nuclear power. In addition, it would not be cost-effective to
alter either the TRIDENT or attack submarine designs for conventional power at
this time. Hence, I recommend that these ships be nuclear powered and that the
others be conventionally powered. Compared to the ships now in the Fleet, class
for class, the ships in this authorization request are more survivable.
Survivability in this sense is measured by the ability of each ship to defend
itself as well as the ability to withstand hits when confronted with existing
and projected threats.
Sincerely,
Ronald
Reagan
B
(TABLE
START)
Authorization
Requested for Combatant Ships
@h1
@h1Fiscal
year -- @h21987@h21988
TRIDENT
Class Nuclear Submarine .... 1 ....
1
SSN
- 688 Class Nuclear Attack Submarine .... 4 .... 3
CG
- 47 Class AEGIS Cruiser .... 2 ....
2
DDG
- 51 Class Destroyer .... 3 ....
3
LSD
- 41 Cargo Variant .... .... 1
LHD
- 1 Class Amphibious Assault Ship .... .... 1
(TABLE
END)
Note:
Identical letters were addressed to Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and George Bush, President of the Senate.