Event
Lasers, railguns, and drones: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on the future of the Navy and Marine Corps
Tuesday, June 02, 2015 | 9:00 am to 10:00 am EDT
AEI, Twelfth Floor
1150 Seventeenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Description
Event Summary
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus kicked off an event at AEI on Tuesday morning by framing the future of the Navy and Marine Corps in the context of his “four Ps”: people, platforms, power, and partnerships. He also noted his signature achievements, including improving the shipbuilding rate, increasing the Navy’s use of alternative fuels, and opening up flexible career paths in the Navy.
Although he acknowledged that the Navy will not fully recover from some consequences of sequestration until 2019, he outlined numerous efforts underway to improve the amount of forward-deployed ships. Secretary Mabus also commented on the Navy’s role in leading the Pentagon’s innovation efforts, from large unmanned strike platforms like the X-47B to swarms of drones 3D printed on ships to improved electric drives that will enable railguns and lasers.
In conversation with AEI’s Mackenzie Eaglen, the secretary broke new ground by endorsing key defense acquisition reform proposals of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel, many of which are poised to become law in the 2016 defense policy bill. Secretary Mabus also agreed that Congress should help the US Department of Defense enact services contracting reform to eliminate overhead waste, including arcane accounting systems and duplications of effort.
–Rick Berger
Event Description
The US Navy and Marine Corps serve as the forward edge of American power, influence, and aid by reassuring allies and deterring would-be adversaries. Through the dedication of their sailors and marines, the Navy and Marines have met increased global demand for their services — from disaster relief in the Philippines to presence missions in East Asia to the deterrence of Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf — but not without cost, including longer deployments and deferred fleet maintenance.
How does the Department of the Navy plan to maintain forward presence and meet requirements as demands rise and resources remain constant? How will new technologies such as unmanned aviation, undersea systems, and directed-energy weapons change the way the Navy and Marines deploy and fight?
Please join us at AEI as Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus discusses the future of the US Navy and Marines.
If you are unable to attend, we welcome you to watch the event live on this page. Full video will be posted within 24 hours.
Agenda
8:45 AM
Registration and continental breakfast
9:00 AM
Introduction:
Mackenzie Eaglen, AEI
9:05 AM
Remarks:
Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy
9:25 AM
Q&A
Moderator,
Mackenzie Eaglen, AEI
10:00 AM
Adjournment
Contact Information
For more information, please contact Rick Berger at [email protected], 202.862.5945.
AEI Participant(s)
Speaker Biographies
Mackenzie Eaglen is a resident fellow in the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at AEI, where she works on defense strategy, defense budgets, and military readiness. Eaglen has worked on defense issues in the US House of Representatives and Senate and at the Pentagon. In 2014, Eaglen served as a staff member of the congressionally mandated National Defense Panel, a bipartisan blue-ribbon commission established to assess US defense interests and strategic objectives. This followed her previous work as a staff member for the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel. A prolific writer on defense-related issues, she has also testified before Congress.
Ray Mabus is the 75th secretary of the US Navy and leads America’s Navy and Marine Corps. Upon assumption of office and throughout his tenure, Mabus has prioritized improving the quality of life of sailors, Marines, and their families, decreasing the department’s dependence on fossil fuels, strengthening partnerships, and revitalizing the Navy’s shipbuilding program. Leading the world’s only global navy, Mabus has traveled more than 1 million miles to 130-plus countries and territories to maintain and develop relationships with national and international officials and visit with sailors and Marines forward deployed or stationed around the world. Before his appointment, Mabus held a variety of leadership positions. From 1988 to 1992, he served as governor of Mississippi, and from 1994 to 1996, Mabus was ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He later became chairman and CEO of a manufacturing company.
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