guide to say what the fleet is going to look like, the composition of the ships, how many submarines, are we going to increase the attack summary and that this calls for? are we going to do those things? i think we should come as well as the amphibious fleet. this lays out the good structure for the debate about how we get to that navy. and then it is up to congress to make sure that we provide the funds and the authorization for us to be able to get there. the debate is going to be how quickly can we get there. has thee the industry capability to build the ships and it is up to congress to provide the resources. jill: you brought up the top administration could the total number of ships exceeds what the president-elect proposed good i think you said about 350, if i'm remembering correctly -- he said about the hundred 50, if i'm remembering correctly. you brought up a budgeting investment that will need on the site for the navy? rep. wittman: i think it melds very well with what the defense budget needs to be. fundamental things have to happen the base budget has to increase to sequestration has to be set aside. within the increase in the base budget i think there has to be at the very least 5 billion additional dollars directed annually to the shipbuilding efforts to get to the 355. we can do that over what is a of time.e period if you want to compress the time schedule, the dollar amount goes up. the suggestion is between $4 billion and $6 billion. at the minimum it should be $5 billion annually within the proposed increases in the base budget. that is very, very tenable. again, we must increase the base budget. you cannot continue to fund the military through contingency funding. that is are part of the unpredictable elements of what we have to do. this is a fundamental generation military readiness and capability. you cannot do that by indeterminate funding that happens on a year-to-year basis. the sequester has to be set aside and the base budget has to be increased. 5 billion dollars of that has to go to shipbuilding. jill: you mentioned sequestration. such a challenge in terms of managing the whole federal budget. defense andifically readiness being a key component of that. is congress prepared to move sequestration aside and find an alternative to control the budget? do you anticipate that happening without bumping it down the road? rep. wittman: it has to. there is not an alternative. you have to address it in the context of the entire budget, which means you have to address the autopilot spending programs of social security and medicare. you cannot get to where we need to be on you just address the discretionary spending sides, one third of the budget. if you do that you create the room on the discretionary spending side to make sure we make the right decisions on the nation's defense. i tell folks, the budget hawks -- you can be a budget hawk and a defense hawk. it is necessary for legislators on both sides to be both come to stand by our military to make sure we rebuild the military and have the capability necessary to meet the threats around the world and at the same time manage the budget in a responsible way to get to the balance and begin to address our deficit and the debt. recently reported that there is a gap in the middle east for the carrier. home tone come norfolk. what is your response to that? does this reflect challenges in readiness, which i know you are involved in? what do we do about something like that moving forward? rep. wittman: well we need presence in the world to have the presence with only 10 carriers. when the gerald ford comes online, we will be up to 11. it also begs the question, is 11 enough? a lot of folks think that 11 carriers is enough but it takes 11 to have a presence at any one time of four or five depending on the situation. i think we need to go to 12 to make sure we have the presence. again, that takes effort, it takes looking into the future committee takes commitment now to be able to get to that point. presence is key. we are not in a situation like we were years ago at the beginning of the gulf war where a conflict does break out and we are going to have time to spend months and months and months to ramp up. if something breaks out, we have to be ready to fight tonight. the ability for us to do that is based on carrier presence, to be able to project power. many times the presence is the necessary deterrence to keep any kind of conflict from breaking out and make sure we dissuad that we think are detrimental to the world. also to make sure that we have the ability to confluence of events within those areas of the world as well as respond in humanitarian ways when the crisis happens in areas of the world. i believe that is absolutely critical and it must be part of the discussion about where she building goes. -- shipbuilding goes. this carrier gap in the mediterranean and the persian gulf highlights the fact that when we don't have a u.s. presence there, there is a challenge not just for our strategic position but also for security in those particular regions of the world. that is the conduit for us to be able to have a discussion about the carrier force, the number of carriers, and also the overall shipbuilding program. jill: i know a letter was sent to the navy regarding at shoot the gap. any response from the navy? rep. wittman: not any direct the navy about this and i had a great breakfast with the chief of naval operations and myself and the representative joe courtney, great in the leading digital thing caucus about how is leading the ship building caucus about how we address these issues and how people understand the force structure assessment, how do we make sure that we communicate the criticality of the carrier presence around the world, and what we do to make sure we have that. those conversations have been very healthy ones, once that reflect upon the reality we face around the world, and then congress' responsibility to bring pieces together in opposition and funding. navy'when we return, the we were making a move. the dewe had to. made -- we knew that if we came in too high, it would cost us big time. we had to stay low. and boy did we. we locked it in and rode that low rate from navy federal credit union all the way to our first house. it's a split-level ranch. so cute! open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. navy federal credit union. jill: there has been a lot of discussion about expanding the naval fleet. shipsbout today's 308 supporting the service? our reporter spoke to her admiral ron boxall about ensuring a long life for the existing fleet. >> i message is not different amount of the size of the fleet. 308, whatever it is, we need to keep those ships hold. they need to deploy and the fly on time. one of the things we have seen is as if the budget challenges, -- as we have had the budget challenges workforce, we have seen delays in -- not just about the money. the money has created timeline delays in which affect us operationally. it is happening right now, happening today, happening for a while. our senior leadership has been clear. you were the vice chief talk about size matters, but size matters only if you are whole. -- we fleet isn't whole need the ability to man and train and equip those ships. we have had unfortunate examples of late where the ships have not cameable to get the money, late, and therefore the shipyard, the stability, the uncertainty in the workforce resulted in ships getting delayed. the ships meeting the milestones and ultimately we have had gaps related due to not just the number of ships we have but also the maintenance that supports their ships. similarly, the budget challenges have slowed our modernization. the cruisers, trying to keep those. that is a modernization and maintenance issue. we also have the story is out there, which we feel the monetization piece of that is incredibly important to face the threat we are seeing around the world. as high-technology weapons proliferate, not just in larger country, but small. reporter: it is kind of a dilemma. the navy thinks it is going to have to be wrestling with the issue of you have more money, you can warships, but you really need to spend these -- spend money on the ships you have today. even if you have full funding for all your maintenance, it is still going to take a while to dig out of the holes you are in. not going to happen within a few months. rear adm. boxall: absolutely. why we are focused on getting andfleet we have whole maintain a modernized them if we choose to grow the fleet, the bigger concern is to be ready to go now. that will take time come even if we put money in it today. welder and find the person who can do the technical work on the ships. the workforce from getting hired an how long and stable is the work going to be. someone goes to look at a job -- if it is a job for one ship or two ships, or do i have a stable amount of work that is going to continually be able to make it worth my family's investment to move from here to there to go to that work? haveter: so the ships you got, one of the main themes of this symposium is the major movement underway for two or three years. you want to talk about putting more weapons on ships, extending the command and control of those weapons. the literal combat -- the littoral combat ship that there are other things going on. can you talk about what is going on with upcoming the fleet you have got? rear adm. boxall: this is something we are very proud of it, taking the weapons we have now and increasing their credibility not surface-to-air missiles, and the credibly capable surface-to-air missile that we have shown can do amazing things. adding the anti-service cameility to -- this out a few years ago and we tested it and right at this moment, as we speak, the missile with that capability is operating in the fleet today out into the senate. we have turned it very quickly. obviously, we're going to continue to push the capability similarly, we have taken the tomahawk land attack missile and as we have modernized those tomahawk cruise missiles coming out of inventory, we are to upgrade those to have the service seeker. now you have the missile that can be used in 2 modes, land targets and service targets. complementing that is a third option, the frigate. the -on has a request for proposal, coming out soon, to have industry tell us what you have out there which will make the frigate the capable missile. we go back to 1988 in iran, uss simpson used a surface-to-air missile to take out and iranian patrol boat. those capabilities on scholarships give the fleet commander incredibly more capability. they put any adversary on the defensive. it is great in keeping with our extremely talented team. reporter: -- extreme lethality thing. reporter: this is a missile designed to shoot down aircraft. is it really a lethal missile against the surface target? rear adm. boxall: absolutely. was it designed as a service missile? no. what we found as we have done our tests is we think it is going to be very effective. long-range missile, and combined with the range, speed, we believe it is going to is it designed for that? no. ? ab jill: last week we brought you the first part of our interview with the assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. now come more from the conversation with our "defense news" associate editor about the state of science and technology at dod. >> the administration raised a number of issues when the committee graphs came out. the bill is on the president's desk and it is his decision what to do with it. much of our concern with the original bill was the micromanagement. there is a lot of detailed requirements into the engineering of products. quite a bit of new reporting required in the bill. that is the reorganization of the office of the under secretary. i believe that the intent of wass who built the bill good. we had a lot of conversations across that process. and i appreciate that a lot of the advice to improve it was taken. i think we have a great relationship with a hill in my organization. fewi do think there is a unintended applications. appreciate the focus on innovation, the chief innovation officer of the organization. but the duties of the job are undefined. we are provide -- we have to provide a plan in march with the final and limitation in august. -- final in limitation on board. and then the new legislation. timelines. it is difficult to recruit for these critical jobs when the roles are undefined. it is important that the new administration finds the right people to fill these roles. in setting these up, it clears out an entire section of the department and illuminates a number of positions -- eliminates a number of positions across the department to clear the path for the organization. that leaves a year where the duties are no longer defined in the law. a lot of work to do to catch up with the bill once it becomes law to implement and ensure we have continuity. reporter: one of the things senator mccain has said and what presented of thornberry to a lesser extent is we want this role elevated because we need somebody in the job just to look at the future, just about technology. in a lot of ways that is a role in both filled in the pentagon. is there a benefit to your role that you cannot say that right now? mr. welby: i think it is important for the new administration to look at the things, innovation, activities that are being conducted by health organizations, by environmental folks, manufacturing initiatives. tore may be new alignment have scope and better control of the full picture. we have a number of special initiatives. some of those might offer opportunities for normalization in the organization. but i think it offers a platform for outreach and opportunity. but i do worry about the unintended consequences. there is a lot of very good benefits to having technology in both trying to influence the industrial base. we are trying to ensure that the work from laboratories impacts acquisition programs. and this does create an organizational it reduces our lever to engage the industrial base a little bit. the techt decouples push peace a little bit. reporter: would you like to see groups in the capabilities of us that reports directly to the secretary's office -- does it make sense to full those things back? mr. welby: i'm not arguing with the secretary's role in managing ,hose but i think long-term innovation needs to be part of the core mission of the department. needs to be delivered through central functions and services and throughout laboratories and acquisition programs and i worry little bit where we create a separate organization to do that work. the organizations will be challenged to start conditioning work into the larger enterprise. it is important to get the innovative spirit tied very directly to the mechanisms we have in place. jill: on this week's "money minute," federal credit union, jeanette mac offers tips on what is better for your business, a line of credit or your credit card. and running ating successful small business takes a lot of effort and commitment, not so different from serving in the military. having quick access to cash is a crucial element injuring the success of your business. if you have recently entered civilian life and are looking to expand her business, a business line of credit or credit card are two viable options. a line of is attractive because it provides more credit over time. it is a bit harder to get, though, as you must have a proven track record. or collateral to back it up. a business credit card gives you access to a smaller amount of credit but it will be faster and easier to obtain. with both from you use the credit only as you need it and you make monthly payments on the portion you use. a line of credit is a good option to offset seasonal highs and lows this way you can ensure your bills are steadily being paid despite the slope period. deciding what is best for your business depends on business you are running. if you operate seasonally, a line of credit would be best. if you operate independently and need funds from time to time for small purchases or cash advances, a business record is the ticket. jill: when we return, a closer look at some of time was of the essence and i who was this guy? . what were his intentions? do you do the yoga? n-no, no sir you ever wanna dance on a reality tv show? i like to dance..... dad, come on. joining my family means he can join navy federal credit union. great rates, 24/7 support. they take good care of you. enough with the questions. he's harmless. open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. navy federal credit union. jill: angle shipbuilding builds more different kinds of ships than any other ship builder in the united states. program managers from the company spoke to our "defense news" never reporter at the service navy symposium on developments on the 12th and previous ship of the san antonio class and the largest cutter ever built by the coast guard. >> here at the association, one of the largest displays is that of this mississippi should boulder that builds more different kinds of ships in one yarder than any other kind of should builder in the united states -- shipbuilder in the united states. we're talking with the program director for the amphibious ship. >> good morning. this is the 12th ship of the san antonio class and in this should we are prototyping cost-reduction initiatives that are transition ship to lxr. you noticed first off that the enclosed composite mask has been replaced with the mass that looks like the mass from the ddg51. we borrow the platform mass to post the air search radar. we have opened up the deck in the center of the ship to allow uv's and storage of containers that contain also submission agreement for the marines in the navy on the ship. this ship, a lot happening in the one design. how many marines come the ship carried? >> more than 550 marines. same propulsion, same that the previous 11 have, and all the five fingers that are important to the marine corps and aviation. the troops and so forth. reporter: it is a big flight deck, hangar. a well deck that floods so small craft and float in and out. the navy originally designed these ships with the vertical missileystem, the launching capability not included for cost reasons. but the fusion of my actually have that system, is that right? >> absolutely. talking about the importance of having offensive and defensive capability on the ship, this ship still has the space as it was originally designed to vls that would aid in the flight. reporter: i think you are building one right now, right? >> trial later this year, delivery later this year. building the lpd28 and ready to build market reporter: thank you, steve. among the other ships, the national security cutter for the u.s. coast guard. let's take a look at that. this is the national security cutter. the largest cutter ever built in the united states coast guard. this is a serious production right now. jennifer, you are a ship design engineer, this program and what can you tell some of the ships? >> this is a great class of ships and it is getting great reviews by the coast guard 6 of these delivered to the coast guard in active service and doing great things on the fleet. recently the ships we delivered on the main deployment capture $1.5 billion cocaine. great job with the drug interdiction. the largest cutter they've ever built. multiple missions. farther up to see. it can operate independently from onset of time. you see some of the features on the ship that are unique. have 2 that can go out here. it allows you to very quickly go out and respond. whether it is search-and-rescue, the drug situation, whatever else is calling for them on their mission. we have the 57-millimeter gun up front. the ship can also respond if necessary for any type of aggressive acts. the communications suite on board is fantastic. it can communicate with a lot of the navy assets as well as virtual assets out at sea. the ship also has engines and one gas turbine engine. those three engines can be used in any combination to do one or both shafts to allow it to proceed very quickly for interdiction or rescued at sea. reporter: i think the ships were designed for independent operation, 4000 tons. a couple months operating by themselves. is that right? >> that is what they were designed for and what they were doing in the ships are performing very well. reporter: how many ships are under construction? >> we have delivered 6 and we have 2 others we are currently building and we received an award for the ninth national security cutter recently. reporter: thank you very much. that is the shipbuilding picture here. jill: that is all this week at "defense news." join us next week when we take a close look at russian defense policy and how the trump administration might respond. check out all the latest news and industry at defensenews.com. thanks for joining us. i am jill aitoro. 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