Making the Case for Technological Base

Rear Admiral Butler makes the case for maintaining our technology base in submarine design and production, and of course The Day (who wants to promote the relevance of the Groton sub base and Electric Boat) is all over the story:

The country is “on the precipice of a national disaster” if it continues to allow the weakening of submarine design capability at Electric Boat, the Navy officer in charge of submarine construction programs testified Monday.

Rear Adm. John D. Butler, program executive officer for submarines at Naval Sea Systems Command, said that for the first time since before World War II, the Navy does not have a submarine design project on the boards.

Of course the Admiral has a point--and one that I sympathize with. Readers of my blog have often heard me fret over our ability to prepare to meet the Chinese threat and continue to keep an eye on the Russians. Yet the tone of his argument bugs me. Is the Sub Force really at such a point that we have to start screaming that the sky is falling?

You tell me, but I'm catching a wiff of the shrillness found among the bureaucrats that preside over PBS. Can't we justify our existence without crying wolf? Besides, the article also hints at the fact that perhaps Adm. Butler has another agenda, and others aren't buying it:

Subcommittee members questioned whether Tango Bravo, a joint project between the Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, might keep some of the expertise alive.

posted by WillyShake @ 5:03 AM