Trump's plan for a 350-ship Navy 'would take 30 years and cost $700BILLION'
President Trump's plan to increase the Navy's size to 350 ships would cost nearly $700bn in government funding, take 30 years to complete and require the hiring of tens of thousands of skilled shipyard workers, experts told Reuters.Trump says he wants to build dozens of new warships in one of the biggest peace-time expansions of the U.S. Navy.Ship-builders, unions and a review of public and internal documents show major obstacles to Trump's plan, including the hiring of at least 10,000 workers, many of whom don't exist yet because they still need to be hired and trained.Trump has vowed a huge build-up - including the expansion of the Navy to 350 warships, from 275 today - of the U.S. military to project American power in the face of an emboldened China and Russia.Scroll down for videoDonald Trump hopes to greatly increase size of the US Navy. His plans, experts say, would take 30 years and would involve the Navy purchasing 321 new ships from now until 2046. He hopes to combat the might of China and Russia. Pictured: A Russian and Chinese naval joint drillExperts said Trump's plans could cost as much as $700bn in government funding and would require at least 10,000 skilled workers who would require training. Pictured: Trump signing an executive action to 'rebuild' the U.S. Military in JanuaryTrump has provided no specifics, including how soon he wants the larger fleet.The Navy has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis a report that explores how the country's industrial base could support higher ship production, Admiral Bill Moran, the vice chief of Naval Operations with oversight of the Navy´s shipbuilding outlook, told Reuters.He declined to give further details. But those interviewed for this story say there are clearly two big issues - there are not enough skilled workers in the market, from electricians to welders, and after years of historically low production, shipyards and their suppliers, including nuclear fuel producers, will struggle to ramp up for years.To be sure, the first, and biggest, hurdle for Trump to overcome is to persuade a cost-conscious Congress to fund the military buildup.The White House declined to comment. A Navy spokeswoman said increases being considered beyond the current shipbuilding plan would require 'sufficient time' to allow companies to ramp up capacity.The Navy has given a report to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, pictured right with Trump, on how the U.S.'s industrial base could support Trump's proposed naval expansion. Critics say there are neither enough skilled workers on the market nor enough building infrastructureTrump has not provided specifics about his plan to increase the size of the U.S. Navy, though two shipbuilders - General Dynamics Corps and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc - plan to hire 6,000 workers total in 2017. Pictured: U.S. military equipment in Bremerhaven, GermanyThe two largest U.S. shipbuilders, General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, told Reuters they are planning to hire a total of 6,000 workers in 2017 just to meet current orders, such as the Columbia class ballistic missile submarine.General Dynamics hopes to hire 2,000 workers at Electric Boat this year. Currently projected order levels would already require the shipyard to grow from less than 15,000 workers, to nearly 20,000 by the early 2030s, company documents reviewed by Reuters show.Huntington Ingalls, the largest U.S. military shipbuilder, plans to hire 3,000 at its Newport News shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, and another 1,000 at the Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi this year to fulfill current orders, spokeswoman Beci Brenton said.Companies say they are eager to work with Trump to build his bigger Navy. But expanding hiring, for now, is difficult to do until they receive new orders, officials say.'It´s hard to look beyond' current orders, Brenton said.Smaller shipbuilders and suppliers are also cautious.'You can´t hire people to do nothing,' said Jill Mackie, spokeswoman for Portland, Oregon-based Vigor Industrial LLC, which makes combat craft for the Navy´s Special Warfare units. 'Until funding is there ... you can´t bring on more workers.'The Navy envisioned by Trump could create more than 50,000 jobs. During the height of the Cold War in the early 1980s, the U.S. shipbuilding and repairing industry employed more than 176,000 people but as of 2016 it employed 100,000 people. Pictured: US sailors in Arabian SeaBecause companies won't hire excess workers in advance, they will have a huge challenge in expanding their workforces rapidly if a shipbuilding boom materializes, said Bryan Clark, who led strategic planning for the Navy as special assistant to the chief of Naval Operations until 2013.Union and shipyard officials say finding skilled labor just for the work they already have is challenging.Demand for pipeline welders is so strong that some can make as much as $300,000 per year, including overtime and benefits, said Danny Hendrix, the business manager at Pipeliners Local 798, a union representing 6,500 metal workers in 42 states.Much of the work at the submarine yards also requires a security clearance that many can´t get, said Jimmy Hart, president of the Metal Trades Department at the AFL-CIO union, which represents 100,000 boilermakers, machinists and pipefitters, among others.To help grow a larger labor force from the ground up, General Dynamics' Electric Boat has partnered with seven high schools and trade schools in Connecticut and Rhode Island to develop a curriculum to train a next generation of welders and engineers.'It has historically taken five years to get someone proficient in shipbuilding,' said Maura Dunn, vice president of human resources at Electric Boat.It can take as many as seven years to train a welder skilled enough to make the most complex type of welds, radiographic structural welds needed on a nuclear-powered submarine, said Will Lennon, vice president of the shipyard's Columbia Class submarine program.The Navy envisioned by Trump could create more than 50,000 jobs, the Shipbuilders Council of America, a trade group representing U.S. shipbuilders, repairers and suppliers, told Reuters.The U.S. shipbuilding and repairing industry employed nearly 100,000 in 2016, Labor Department statistics show.The industry had as many as 176,000 workers at the height of the Cold War in the early 1980s as the United States built up a fleet of nearly 600 warships by the end of that decade.Apart from the labor shortage, there are also serious capacity and supply chain issues that would be severely strained by any plan to expand the Navy, especially its submarine fleet.Expanding the Navy to 350 ships is not as simple as just adding 75 ships.Many ships in the current 275-vessel fleet need to be replaced, which means the Navy would have to buy 321 ships between now and 2046 to reach Trump's goal, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report in February.The shipyards that make nuclear submarines - General Dynamics' Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, and Huntington's Newport News - produced as many as seven submarines per year between them in the early 1980s. But for more than a decade now, the yards have not built more than two per year.The nuclear-powered Virginia class and Columbia class submarines are among the largest and most complex vessels to build.The first Columbia submarine, which is set to begin construction in 2021, will take seven years to build, and two to three additional years to test.Retooling the long-dormant shipyard space will take several years and significant capital investments, but a bigger problem is expanding the supply chain, said Clark, the former strategist for the Navy and now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.Makers of submarine components such as reactor cores, big castings, and forgers of propellers and shafts would need five years to double production, said a congressional official with knowledge of the Navy´s long-term planning.'We have been sizing the industrial base for two submarines a year. You can´t then just throw one or two more on top of that and say, "Oh here, dial the switch and produce four reactor cores a year instead of two." You just can't,' the official said.In his first budget proposal to Congress on Thursday, Trump proposed boosting defense spending by $54 billion for the fiscal 2018 year - a 10 percent increase from last year.He is also seeking $30bn for the Defense Department in a supplemental budget for fiscal 2017, of which at least $433m is earmarked for military shipbuilding.A 350-ship Navy would cost $690bn over the 30-year period, or $23bn per year - 60 percent more than the average funding the Navy has received for shipbuilding in the past three decades, the Congressional Budget Office said.Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who will have a major say in approving the defense budget, said in a statement to Reuters that he supported Trump's vision to increase the size of the Navy to deter adversaries.'However, this is not a blank check,' he said.Senator John McCain cautioned that he would not offer 'a blank check' to Trump, though he did say that he supported Trump's vision to increase the navy's size. Pictured: McCain speaking with Jack Reed, a Democratic Senator from Rhode Island
Donald Trump's renewed ties with Saudi Arabia could intensify 'regional cold war' in Middle East, expert warns
Donald Trump is renewing America's ties with Saudi Arabia and this could intensify the "regional cold war" in the Middle East, an expert has warned.
While relations between Barack Obama's administration and Saudi Arabia turned from chilled to hostile since the Iran nuclear deal, President Trump is clearly distancing himself from his predecessor's attitude towards the Gulf.
Following the meeting between President Trump and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week, the White House suggested Saudi Arabia would remain a close consultant to Mr Trump on security and economic challenges in the Middle East.
The Saudis also hailed a "historical turning point" in US-Saudi relations after the two leaders expressed shared views that Iran poses a regional security threat in the region.
Fawaz A Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and the Emirates Chair in Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies told The Independent: "We are witnessing a marked shift from the Obama administration to the Trump administration vis-a-vis the Gulf and Saudi Arabia."
He warned the shift in relationship between the two countries could see Saudi Arabia's proxy war with Iran intensify in Yemen, which is being torn apart by civil war.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are backing opposing sides in Syria and Yemen, accusing each other of terrorism and war crimes while denying interference.
"We are going to see an intensification of the fierce regional cold war between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran.
"We will see a shift from American relative neutrality to major engagement on the side of Saudi Arabia and this will have importance particularly in Yemen.
"Yemen is going to be the major theatre where the US is going to squeeze Iran," said Professor Gerges.
This comes as Mr Trump reportedly gave the Pentagon permission to carry out more raids in Yemen.
"The Saudis are delighted that Barack Obama has left the White House. The consensus was that Obama was flirting with Iran at their own expense. The nuclear deal with Iran was the final thing that broke the camel's back," said Professor Gerges.
For the Saudis, Mr Trump is now seen as a like-minded ally over Iran, who is unlikely to scrutinise the Saudi government over human rights issues.
On the other hand, Mr Trump is keen to see an increased commitment of fighting Isis in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia could be key in committing to it, he said.
"What the Saudis care about and the only thing they care about is Iran. They believe that Iran represents an existential threat to Saudi Arabia.
"Donald Trump and his team have a visceral hatred of Iran and has made it very clear that Iran is a troublemaker and a supporter of terrorism. The Saudis view the Trump administration through the lens of its stance with Iran," he said.
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Professor Gerges said the debate over Mr Trump's 'Muslim travel ban' and views on Palestine were secondary and that the US-Saudi relationship relied on a shared position over Iran.
"The Trump administration has already increased the volume of its hostile rhetoric towards Iran," he said.
The meeting between Mr Trump and Prince bin Salman was one of a host of high-level meetings between officials from both countries and the White House is showing signs that Saudi Arabia may be taking an influential role in shaping its policies in the Middle East.
Both Iran and Yemen have been listed in Mr Trump's travel ban and while the Saudis welcome Mr Trump's hard-line on Iran, US officials said the President was considering ending a ban on US weapon sales to the Saudis.
The suspension of the arms trade with Saudi Arabia had been implemented by Mr Obama in response to thousands of civilians being killed in the conflict in Yemen.
The relationship between the two countries will also not be limited to diplomatic ties and during the meeting, the two sides discussed the creation of a new US-Saudi programme, which would start initiatives in the energy, industry, infrastructure, and technology sectors, with opportunities worth more than $200 billion (£162bn) the statement from the White House said.
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