Former Pentagon Officials: U.S. Navy is ‘Strained’

The Hill reported that Seth Cropsey, who served as deputy undersecretary of the Navy for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian both recently made similar assessments of the Navy.

Their comments come just after a Navy official publicly acknowledged last week that there will be gaps in the presence of U.S. aircraft carriers in both the Middle East and East Asia regions at points next year.

Since the Navy removed the USS Theodore Roosevelt from the Persian Gulf last month, the U.S. has had no carrier in the sea, the first such instance since 2007. However, Cropsey described the entire Navy fleet, not just the aircraft carriers, as experiencing strain.

Obama to Kill Tomahawk, Hellfire Missile Programs

The pace and strength of America’s national suicide gains ground. It will eventually come to a point in time where America will have to capitulate to China and Russia, both of whom are expanding their military both quantitively and qualitively, as well as advancing in military technology. These suicidal cuts are nothing less than intentional as you don’t cut the backbone of your naval defense by accident, especially when the replacement is only in the ‘experimental’ phase and won’t be ready for at least another 10 years — maybe. To make things worse, who will take a stand and stop the onslaught from within? There’s been over 200 high ranking officers purged from within the military, and in all four branches.

Cornerstone of U.S. Naval power eliminated under Obama budget

President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say have helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades.

The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s most advanced cruise missile”—is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy.

In addition to the monetary cuts to the program, the number of actual Tomahawk missiles acquired by the United States would drop significantly—from 196 last year to just 100 in 2015. The number will then drop to zero in 2016.

Call Made to Congress for China War Plan

The U.S. military needs a more focused war plan specific to China, especially after China’s recent declaration of an air defense zone over the East China Sea, a group of defense analysts told a prominent House subcommittee Wednesday.

As part of the Pentagon’s overall defense strategy to pivot to the Pacific, the U.S. should buy more Virginia-class attack submarines, prioritizing long-range anti-ship missiles, carrier-based drones, and missile defense technology, the analysts told the House Armed Services’ Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.