WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), spoke with Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and raised the importance of properly funding cutting-edge directed energy programs — the class of weapons systems that use electromagnetic energy, such as high-energy lasers. Calling it the “weapon of the future,” he received commitment from Secretary Phalen to advocate for an increase in the directed energy budget.  

“It’s unclear in the budget where the directed energy money is if it’s in there. Those missiles that we’re using in the Red Sea to knock down $20,000 Yemen drones cost $4 million apiece. Directed energy is an incredibly important priority. The prior administration grossly underfunded it. I hope this administration will pay attention. This is cost-effective and it’s the weapon of the future. Mr. Secretary, are you going advocate for directed energy and see an increase in that budget,” asked Senator King.

“Yes, senator. I think it’s very important. Our capability, and as you mentioned, it’s a cost-effective one. We continue to be working very hard with the one system we have been testing live right now that appears to be working well, so we continue to work on that. So, yes,” replied Secretary Phelan.

Senator King also touted Bath Iron Works’ (BIW) role in helping construct the U.S. Navy’s Guided-Missile Destroyer (DDG) ships. Earlier in their exchange, Senator King thanked Secretary Phelan for his visit earlier this year to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) to discuss the strategic value of developing a strong workforce and expanding shipbuilding in the U.S. to stay ahead of foreign adversaries.

“I want to thank you for your visits to the Portsmouth naval shipyard and Bath Iron Works, particularly for the time you took to talk with the men and women on the deck plates, the people who are out there doing the work. It meant a lot to those people, it meant a lot to the workforce, and the fact that you took the time to do that, I think is exemplary. The other thing I want to note at the beginning, we always get in these hearings and there’s a lot of criticism and harsh questions. I want to compliment the Navy for the performance in the Red Sea. It’s the longest protracted naval battle since World War II, and the Navy has performed extraordinary well. I've had briefings both in this committee and the Intelligence Committee about the work that has been done under very difficult circumstances, so I think that should be acknowledged in a hearing like this. I should also note some of the workhorses in the Red Sea are DDGs, which are — I visited a government facility some years ago that had a spot on the map of the whole world of all the U.S. Assets, and DDGs were all over that map. Truly the workhorse of the Navy,” said Senator King.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues. Senator King has previously spoken up about the emerging threats of Russia and China’s development of “nightmare weapon” hypersonic missiles, which he has described as “strategic game-changers.” He previously urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to take advantage of private sector technologies or risk losing access to innovative defense technologies and encouraged the (DoD) to reevaluate its acquisition process of defense technologies. Additionally, Senator King has been a steady voice on the need to address the growing nuclear capacity of our adversaries.

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) is a key economic driver in Maine, supporting thousands of jobs integral to America’s national security. After calls from Senators King and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the U.S. Department of Defense exempted the shipyard workforce from the civilian hiring freeze. The Senators, alongside Sena too Susan Collins (R-ME), once again called on the Administration to process PNSY civilian hires to support the work of the Shipyard. Earlier this year, Senator King visited the Shipyard with Navy Secretary Phelan to highlight the Shipyard’s role in supporting U.S. national security and the need to bolster the Shipyard’s workforce to meet workload demand.

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