Fischer Presses Senior Officials on Need for SLCM, Importance of Bolstering Domestic Industrial Base

At a hearing today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Republican on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, questioned senior U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps leaders about the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) program and the Navy’s industrial base strategy.
During the hearing, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti once again publicly endorsed the SLCM program, which the Biden administration has attempted to cancel multiple times. Senator Fischer secured a provision in the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 that establishes a program of record for SLCM.
Amid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Senator Fischer also pressed Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro on concerns about higher-than-expected levels of weapon attrition and the need to more heavily invest in directed energy weapons to lower the cost per shot.