Sen. Collins Presses Defense Officials on Iran War, Maine Shipbuilding

Q&A on the Strait of Hormuz

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Q&A on Maine Shipbuilding

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Washington, D.C. - At a hearing to review the Department of Defense's (FY) 2027 budget request, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, questioned General "Dan" Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the failure to anticipate the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the decision to only request only one DDG destroyer in the Pentagon budget.

Q&A on the Strait of Hormuz

Sen. Collins: General Caine, when the Department of War was planning its operation in Iran, did you anticipate the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting impact on oil supplies for many countries, including here in the United States, where we've seen gas, diesel, and home heating oil prices go up? I ask this question because there's historic precedent. Obviously, during the Iraq-Iran War, tankers were fired upon in the Strait.

General Caine: Senator, thanks for the question. As always, we have an incredible staff over at the Pentagon and down at USCENTCOM, and we always look at the range of military branches and sequels. I won't comment on any particular one because that gets to whatever advice I may or may not have given to the President, and I do that in private, but you should rest assured, as should the American people, that we cover and consider the full range of things all the time in our careful consideration of military actions and the advice, and or options that we present our civilian leaders.

Sen. Collins: It seems to me that there's been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem, which is why I ask.

Q&A on Maine Shipbuilding

Sen. Collins: Mr. Secretary, let me start by thanking you for visiting Bath Iron Works in the state of Maine. The workers were very pleased to greet you and hear your encouragement and praise. The Aegis destroyers play such a critical role in our national security from intercepting Iranian missiles to supporting combat operations around the globe.

While visiting Bath Iron Works, you correctly described the DDG destroyers as the workhorse of the fleet, and emphasized maxxing out on DDGs sends a message to the world. I was also delighted that you noted that Bath built is best built, a slogan of which we're very proud. I fully agree with all those sentiments. That's why I was alarmed to see that this year's budget request only includes funding for just one DDG-51. That's down from two in FY 2026 and three in FY 2025.

That reduction to a single DDG-51 creates uncertainty for the U.S. surface combatant industrial base at a time when BIW is demonstrating huge progress in workforce retention, production stability, and faster throughput. So, there needs to be a steady demand signal for DDGs in order to keep the yard operating at all phases, from cutting the initial steel to completing the ship.

So, I'm puzzled by why only one DDG is requested, and concerned about what that will mean as far as maintaining that workflow. I'm particularly puzzled by the decision in reconciliation to request 1.8 billion for foreign-born surface combatants at the same time that there's the proposed cut for American built destroyers when providing a demand signal for U.S.-built DDGs from the Department helps the industry further increase the speed at which these ships are being produced, and I'm sure when you were at Bath, they probably showed you the chart of the enormous progress that they are making.

Sec. Hegseth: I appreciate the question, Senator, and it was a great visit, and it's incredible what they do. To both your questions, the answer is ship building capacity, and that's why we invest, you know, 65 billion in ship building in our shipyards is because the reason for our request of that number is the ability to build them, and how quickly, and so as soon as that capacity is increased, which we anticipate this investment will do, then we look forward to ordering DDGs into the future, because they are the backbone of our of our naval fleet.

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