📋 Tender Overview
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.
Senator King also touted Bath Iron Works (BIW) role in helping construct the U.S. Navys 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.
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 about the emerging threats of Russia and Chinas development of nightmare weapon hypersonic missiles, which he has described as strategic game-changers. He 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 of defense technologies. Additionally, Senator King has been .
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) is a key economic driver in Maine, supporting thousands of jobs integral to Americas national security. After calls from Senators , 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 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 Shipyards role in supporting U.S. national security and the need to bolster the Shipyards workforce to meet workload demand.
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