Trump’s call for more lethal U.S. Navy puts spotlight on Virginia defense symposium

More boats, smarter weapons and deadlier guns are just a few items on President Trump’s wish list that U.S. Navy officials and defense leaders will tackle this week at the Surface Navy Association’s National Symposium in Arlington.

The conference, which kicks off Tuesday, will have an estimated 90 vendors and more than 4,000 attendees and will honor “the heritage of America’s surface force while focusing squarely on the next fight,” the Surface Navy Association said.

It is expected to focus heavily on changes to Pentagon procurement programs and the Navy’s integration with other military services and international partner forces.

For the Pentagon, the conference coincides with its effort to maintain a technological edge over U.S. adversaries, particularly in the Pacific.

A swath of industry partners, including major manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Leonardo DRS, are sponsoring the event.

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is set to speak Tuesday. Other top Navy officials will appear over the course of the three-day conference to discuss the state of the Navy as well as building and maintaining a 21st-century naval force charged with projecting U.S. military power worldwide.

The global reach of the U.S. naval forces — and, with it, the need to maintain the best fleet on the planet — has been on full display recently. U.S. strikes around the world, including the firing of Tomahawk missiles last month against Islamic State group targets in Nigeria, were launched from and relied on naval assets in the theater.

Discussion is expected to cover Mr. Trump’s plan to construct “Trump class” battleships as part of a U.S. “Golden Fleet.” Mr. Phelan is expected to discuss the initiative during his keynote address. Industry leaders will be listening to his words carefully, as little is known about the program so far.

“We haven’t built a battleship since 1993. These cutting-edge vessels will be some of the most lethal surface warfare ships … other than our submarines,” Mr. Trump said. Announcing the initiative last month, the president said the current U.S. fleet has “gotten old and tired and obsolete.”

“They’ll help maintain American military superiority, revive the American shipbuilding industry and inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world,” Mr. Trump said of the new battleships. “We want respect. We’re going to have it.”

Some leading defense analysts have expressed doubts about the prospects of the Golden Fleet.

The battleships “will take years to design, cost $9 billion each to build, and contravene the Navy’s new concept of operations, which envisions distributed firepower,” retired Marine Corps Col. Mark Cancian, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a recent analysis.

“A future administration will cancel the program before the first ship hits the water,” he said.

Although defense industry leaders have been broadly supportive of the effort, companies will have to deal with those same doubts as they invest in programs that may not outlast the current president.

The Navy has announced the development of a smaller class of combatant ships based on the Legend-class cutter, meant to act as a part of the Golden Fleet but as a “highly adaptable vessel” with modular payloads.

Mr. Phelan has said ships of that class will “launch the first hull in the water in 2028.”

All those new ships may now have a better chance at being built on time. The U.S. Navy has partnered with the defense technology company Palantir to use its artificial intelligence platform in developing a more efficient shipbuilding management system.

The system promises to “identify bottlenecks, streamline engineering workflows and support proactive risk mitigation” in the process. The software already is being used in pilot programs with General Dynamics Electric Boat facilities.

The Navy’s effort and the Pentagon’s broader initiative to field smart drones and other modern technology also will be prominent at the conference. Panel discussions will include the “Navy’s Unmanned Revolution” and “Navy Digital Innovation,” with the Navy’s chief technology officers and civilian leadership.

On top of the $448 million contract with Palantir, the Labor Department recently awarded $8 million to Delaware County Community College and $5.8 million to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to restore “America’s maritime dominance” through shipbuilding, said Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The administration is providing nearly $14 million to bolster the shipbuilding industry through training programs for new workers nationwide. The decline of shipbuilding in the U.S. is sure to be a central topic during the conference this week.