US lacks commercial base for wartime sealift: Pentagon

Washington: The United States lacks the commercial maritime base needed to sustain military sealift in a crisis, Pentagon and maritime officials told lawmakers, warning that decades of decline in shipbuilding, cargo access, and fleet capacity have left a critical logistics gap.

Testifying before a joint congressional hearing on mobility readiness, Maritime Administrator Steve Kamall said the problem was structural and long-standing. “The United States is not experiencing a temporary maritime downturn. We are confronting the cumulative effects of a long-term structural disengagement from the global maritime system,” he said.

Kamall said the US had not built a commercial ship for sale in the global market since 1960 and currently maintains a US-flag international fleet of only “roughly 80 ships”. He added that the country neither builds nor repairs vessels at scale to carry its own commerce.

The core issue, he stressed, is the absence of cargo to sustain a viable maritime ecosystem. “Cargo, we absolutely have to have,” he told lawmakers, warning that without access to a reasonable share of national trade, shipbuilding, repair, and fleet expansion cannot be sustained.

He cautioned that existing programmes, such as the Maritime Security Programme and the Tanker Security Programme, are under pressure because they depend on a limited pool of government-backed cargo. Expanding capacity without expanding cargo access, he said, would “dilute utilisation and reduce effectiveness”.

Gen Randall Reed, commander of the US Transportation Command, backed that assessment. “Cargo is king,” he said, underlining that the availability of commercial trade is central to sustaining sealift capability, ship crews, and logistics infrastructure.

Reed said Transcom relies on a mix of government and commercial assets to project force globally, but warned that sustaining operations in a prolonged conflict would be challenging. While the US has sufficient personnel and ships for an initial surge, “the challenge will be during a prolonged conflict and the sustainment,” he said.

He said survivability of aircraft in contested environments is a growing concern as adversaries improve detection and targeting capabilities, and called for continued investment in connectivity and fleet modernisation.

Lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about ageing platforms. Reed said the average age of the C-17 transport fleet is about 22 years and warned that delays in developing replacements could create future gaps. On tanker aircraft, he said, continued investment in the KC-46 programme is essential even as older KC-135 aircraft remain in service.

“The merchant marine is here for two reasons; first, to carry our nation’s commerce and second, to carry the nation to war when we need to,” he said, adding that the US must refocus on the first to ensure the second.

The discussion reflects long-standing concerns within the Pentagon that America’s ability to move troops and equipment over long distances is increasingly constrained by an ageing fleet and a shrinking commercial maritime base.

In modern conflicts, logistics — including sealift, airlift, and fuel supply — remains central to sustaining operations across theatres. For the US, particularly in scenarios involving the Indo-Pacific, the ability to move and sustain forces over vast distances is seen as critical to deterrence and warfighting readiness.

-IANS