Assuring a Sea Vehicles Science and Technology Base for Transforming the 21st-Century Navy

With general agreement among the government and commercial sectors on the importance of maintaining both naval supremacy around the world and viable maritime industries at home, the need for developing a "critical mass" of supporting science and relevant engineering practice should be apparent. Moreover, with increasing calls for "partnership" between government and industry as a key element in revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding, the existing public-sector infrastructure of research and development centers and their associated technology base are unique resources. More urgently, achieving the George W. Bush administration's goal for widespread "transformation" of the U.S. armed services - the Navy and Coast Guard among them - will require creating new, innovative technologies to support advanced naval platforms for the agile, survivable, and affordable sea-going forces of the 21st century. These factors create an urgent need to reemphasize the importance of a robust technology base in marine engineering for both national and economic security. This paper reviews the arguments for increasing government support for these important disciplines. It further proposes several alternatives - driven by national economic realities - for collaboration between the public and private sectors in creating and sustaining a focal point for maritime technology at the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, currently the Navy's "flagship" facility for naval platform architecture and marine systems engineering.In his seminal work, The Influence of Seapower Upon History , Alfred Thayer Mahan traced a clear connection between the sea power of ocean-going nations and their civilian maritime infrastructure-the fishing fleets, merchant marine, shipyards, harbors, port facilities, and experienced manpower that create and maintain traditions of seafaring within the lifeblood of the state. He noted:Seapower in the broad sense... includes not only the military strength afloat that rules the sea or any part of it by force of arms, but also the peaceful commerce and shipping from which alone a military fleet naturally and healthfully springs, and on which it securely rests (Mahan 1957). While many aspects of Mahan's sea power theories - such as "fleets in being"-have been left behind by the events of the 20th century, this fundamental truth remains: naval power and ocean industries are deeply intertwined, each depending on the other for sustenance and survival. Particularly