Today, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the current state of United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Arizona Senator and Navy combat veteran Mark Kelly highlighted the urgency of rebuilding America's commercial maritime industrial base and how lessons from drone warfare in Ukraine should shape U.S. readiness in the Western Pacific.

Kelly, author of the SHIPS for America Act, highlighted decades of decline in U.S. commercial shipbuilding and its direct impact on the Navy's ability to deliver critical vessels: "Congress right now is actively considering my SHIPS for America Act alongside the President's Maritime Action Plan, and this is to rebuild U.S. commercial shipbuilding and shipbuilding capacity and to strengthen our maritime industrial base, grow the workforce. All those things, I think we all recognize that we need. And it's because of decades of decline in commercial shipbuilding, which has created my view of national security risk. It's also weakened our ability to build and sustain naval vessels.

"We need to train the welders, pipefitters, electricians, but also have the companies that supply pipes and valves and steel. You have a bigger overall maritime industry that's going to help us build naval vessels."

Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of INDOPACOM and one of the witnesses at this hearing, strongly affirmed the urgency to revitalize American shipbuilding, warning that the gap with China is severe: "U.S. overall commercial shipbuilding is 0.1% of global capacity. China enjoys over 50% of global shipbuilding capacity. […] Regaining that is absolutely essential for our defense in the 21st century."

During the hearing, Kelly also drew attention to the use of unmanned drone systems in the Pacific, describing a visit he made to a Ukrainian hospital last year: "I was in a hospital in Ukraine about a year ago and met with ten injured soldiers. Nine of them were injured because of FPVs, one had stepped on a landmine, which may have been put there by a drone. So, drone warfare is where the casualties are created in this war. […] What should we be doing now to make sure we have the autonomous systems that will work in a fight in the Western Pacific?"

Sen. Kelly questions Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, Jr., USN during a SASC hearing.

Click here to download a video of Kelly's remarks. See the transcript below:

Sen. Kelly:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Admiral Paparo, Congress right now is actively considering my SHIPS for America Act alongside the President's Maritime Action Plan, and this is to rebuild U.S. commercial shipbuilding and shipbuilding capacity and to strengthen our maritime industrial base, grow the workforce. All those things, I think we all recognize that we need. And it's because of decades of decline in commercial shipbuilding, which has created my view of national security risk. It's also weakened our ability to build and sustain naval vessels. With Senator Scott, you talked about Amphibs. So, given that linkage, do you agree that revitalizing our commercial maritime industrial base is essential to strengthening Navy shipbuilding and reducing the delays and delivering ships like amphibious and another Virginia class submarine, etc.? And how urgent is it that we make these investments now to ensure that we can meet the demands in the Indo-Pacific?

Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, Jr., USN:

Senator Kelly. Good morning. I strongly affirm that statement. U.S. overall commercial shipbuilding is 0.1% of global capacity. China enjoys over 50% of global shipbuilding capacity. Their civil military fusion system is how they've employed so much more naval shipbuilding capacity. Having the workforce that can move with alacrity from one type ship to another, just the basic trades, regaining that is absolutely essential for our defense in the 21st century.

Kelly:

Yeah, we need to train the welders, pipefitters electricians, but also have the companies that supply pipes and valves and steel. You have a bigger overall maritime industry that's going to help us build naval vessels. Another topic I want to touch on, we talked a little bit earlier today about Ukraine and how it relates to the Western Pacific in a fight with China, which I do not believe is inevitable. I think we should do what we can to avoid a conflict with a near peer adversary, especially one who has nuclear weapons with an arsenal that's growing. The Ukrainians and the Russians have learned that autonomous systems in a land war is the key to success. I was in a hospital in Ukraine about a year ago and met with ten injured soldiers. Nine of them were injured because of FPVs, one had stepped on a landmine, which may have been put there by a drone. So, drone warfare is where the casualties are created in this war. When you think about the western Pacific, with islands fighting from one island to the next, maybe eventually on Taiwan, how do you think these systems will evolve to be useful? And what should we be doing here at home? We're certainly gaining an education here, but what should we be doing now to make sure we have the autonomous systems that will work in a fight in the Western Pacific?

Paparo:

Senator, it's not just land warfare too, in addition to that point, it is assault warfare, which is one power wants to take another power's land and subjugate its citizens. And those principles of assault matter from ground assault, air assault, airborne assault, amphibious assault. And so, the lessons are all salient, which is that you raise the cost of assault, which doctrinally is always 3-to-1. But the proliferation of mass cheap kill makes it more like a 20-to-1 or a 100-to-1 ratio. And all things being equal, if all sides are employed to their utmost, it makes us much more costly and favors the defender. And so, we can't move fast enough in this meta-trend. And what characterizes it is not that it is unmanned, it is that it's cheap. The unmanned-ness is what makes it cheap kill. And so, you know what I think moving quickly, innovating quickly, granting authorities quickly experimenting, taking risk by programing and by feeding those industries as it is in this year's budget submission, I think I think that's the way ahead.

Kelly: Thank you Admiral.