CG(X) Program Plans
The 30-year shipbuilding plan that the Navy submitted to Congress in May 2003 called for the first CG(X) to be procured in FY2018. Although CG(X) was still in the concept stage, the Navy was taking a hard look at the joint capabilities gaps CG(X) will ultimately fill. By 2005 the Navy was making critical decisions now to determine what weapons and sensors she will carry, and how large CG(X) will need to be to provide those capabilities. CG(X) is being planned now to become operational toward the end of the next decade as the Ticonderoga-class cruisers approach 35 years of service life.
In January 2005 John Young, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition noted that "One analysis said that if you take today's carrier strike group, remove one DDG-51 and insert one DD-X, it would make a significant improvement in that carrier's self-defence capability ... the part that has been lost is that everybody thinks DD-X is a land-attack ship, and it is, but it also brings a dual band radar" and potential to hold SM-3 and SM-6 missiles for enhanced anti-air and anti-missile capabilities. Although the Navy maintains planned to transition from DD-X to a CG-X next-generation cruiser, given this new analysis of DD-X, Young said: "I don't see as much urgency for [moving to] CG-X."
The FY2006-FY2011 Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) reduced planned DD(X) procurement to one per year in FY2007-FY2011 and accelerated procurement of the first CG(X) to FY2011. As of mid-2006 the Navy wanted to procure 7 DDG-1000s, 19 CG(X)s, and 55 LCSs. The FY2006 budget requests $716 million in advance procurement finding for the DD(X) program $666 million for the first DD(X), which is planned for procurement in FY2007 and 550 million for the second DD(X), which is planned for procurement in FY2008 and $1,115 million for DD(X)/CG(X) research and development.
Under the March 2005 version of the Navy's 30-Year Fleet Plan, the Navy planned to operate 18 CG(X) cruisers, a derivative of the DD(X) devoted to ballistic missile defense. In December 2005 the Navy decided on a plan to increase the size of its fleet to 313 ships by 2020. The plan was developed by Admiral Michael Mullen, who took over as chief of naval operations in the summer of 2005, would increase the current 281-ship fleet by 32 vessels and cost more than $13 billion a year, $3 billion more than the current annual shipbuilding budget. The plan scaled back goals for building the new DD(X) destroyer. The navy once planned 23 to 30 DD(X) ships, but the new plan had only seven. The plan called for 19 CG(X), with the first of those ships expected to be completed in 2017.
The Maritime Air and Missile Defense of Joint Forces (MAMDJF) Initial Capabilities Document was reviewed and validated by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) on May 1st, 2006. As part of the effort on CG(X), the Next Generation Cruiser, the Under Secretary for Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics), Kenneth Krieg directed, on June 16th, 2006, that an AoA examine the capabilities and cost of a range of options to address the gaps as defined in the MAMDJF.
Additional AoA clarification was specified by the Secretary of the Navy who stated in the cover-letter for his Report to Congress on Alternative Propulsion Methods for Surface Combatants and Amphibious Warfare Ships, dated January 12, 2007, that "The ongoing Analysis of Alternatives for the Maritime Air and Missile Defense of the Joint Force capability, which will include recommendation of a CG(X) platform alternative, is incorporating the methods of this study, and is examining both fuel efficient fossil-fueled power plants and nuclear power alternatives. Again, the selection of power plant architecture for a particular class of ship must include analysis of the cross-program considerations described above." In response to Representative Taylor's question to the Secretary of the Navy on the study dated January 12, 2007, the Secretary responded that the AoA "includes efforts to review the potential use of nuclear propulsion. The AoA is scheduled to be completed this year, and will address the physical possibilities of incorporating a nuclear plant, the cost versus operational effectiveness, the value and need for increased electrical power to allow for future technologies, and impacts to the logistics force."
The Navy's planned 313-ship fleet calls for a total of 19 CG(X)s as of 2007. At that time, the Navy planned to procure the first CG(X) in FY2011 and the second in FY2013. The Navy's FY2008 30-year shipbuilding plan calls for procuring the third CG(X) in FY2014, two per year from FY2015 through FY2021, and the final two CG(X)s in FY2022 and FY2023
When the CG(X) AoA was completed, it was to provide the foundation for the Milestone A decision by Secretary Krieg, initially scheduled in late 2007, thus beginning the Technology Development Phase. By late 2007, Navy plans called for Milestone A review of the CG(X) program in the first quarter of FY2008.
In June 2008, when asked about CG-X requirements, Navy Secretary Donald Winter said "I don't believe they are clear. And I think its requirements at two levels. First we need to make sure we understand what it is we want on this ship and what it is we want in the fleet, how that is all going to work together. This ship is not going to work by itself. It's going to work with other components, as part of ballistic missile defense system [and] many other components. We need to understand how that's all going to work.... I think this is the first time in a long time that we've tried to work it in this formal a process. And to work through a real detailed specification and set of requirements. And that is creating some challenges. And there are tradeoffs that have to be done. And these are more than just worrying about what type of hull form we use - do we use the tumblehome or do we use a more classical one. It's more than just whether it's a nuclear power plant or conventional plant."
When asked whether the Analysis of Alternatives would be completed before the next Adminstration took office in January 2009, Winter said "We'll have to see. I would dearly love to see that happen. I'm not sure I can guarantee that that's going to occur."
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