Team Crane adds important new capabilities—will they be enough?
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The re-emergence of strategic competition requires an intense effort to rebuild our nation’s atrophied capabilities. Our nation is behind in rebuilding the infrastructure needed to meet emerging threats posed by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. The recent Strategic Posture Review made the case for urgent investment in modernized strategic forces.
The changing strategic landscape and re-emergence of near-peer competition should prompt discussion of renewing a committed focus towards capabilities needed to deter China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from strategic aggression.
While the Base Realignment and Closure effort that followed the Cold War’s end allowed the United States to reduce defense spending through dramatic cuts to infrastructure, the three-decade hiatus from near peer-competition is over and BRAC consolidation has introduced strategic vulnerabilities. Since 2021, folks inside the Washinton beltway have become focused on the Davidson Window which aims to forecast when China will be ready to invade Taiwan. Predictions such as 2027-2035 are driving much of the conversation about preparing for a conflict in the Pacific. The accelerating threat requires the urgent re-establishment of infrastructure investment necessary to enable a ready network of bases.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 imposes limits on discretionary spending for defense. This deal caps spending for national defense to include the DoD and atomic energy programs. DoD leadership is currently focusing its strategic investment on programs supporting the development of submarines, hypersonic missiles and other technologies needed for defense against foreign powers, specifically the high-end fight against a near peer threat in the Pacific. Thus, little remains available to make necessary infrastructure improvements such as maintenance and utility upgrades and quality-of-life services for military members and their families. This challenge has led to unsettlement across military installations.
This constraint during a need for national rebuilding places extreme challenges on Indiana’s defense assets. As a testament to its Military relevance Naval Support Activity Crane anticipates more than $500M of future investment into its weapons and technology facilities across the base, specifically for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division and Crane Army Ammunition Activity. In 2024 alone, nearly $70M in investment was announced for the creation and improvement of innovation and sustainment facilities.
NSWC recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new strategic and hypersonic research, development, test and evaluation facility, the first of its kind on the installation and one of few across the nation. This high-tech facility is a major advancement for collaboration and shared resources between NSWC departments. Additionally, NSWC also announced the construction of a new Strategic Systems Engineering Facility in April that will expand existing capabilities by providing additional classified workspace for Strategic Systems hardware support.
The largest single investment news comes from Crane Army’s plans for a state-of-the-art pyrotechnics facility. Expected to cost more than $150M when complete in 2031, the facility is part of the Army’s modernization plan and provides more than 50,000 square feet for pyrotechnic production operations.
Still, even with these advancements, there are no announcements to address the looming problems with NSA Crane’s foundational infrastructure due to budget constraints. Reduced funding at the Pentagon has fallen particularly hard on installations such as NSA Crane, trimming their funding for facility maintenance and utility modernization and quality-of-life services for military members and their families.
If our bases and their surrounding communities fall behind, not only could we as a nation suffer, but the DoD’s decision to grow work and build new capabilities in those bases and communities could wane as well. Other Midwestern states have established dedicated Defense programs to address these concerns. This type of state level strategy bolsters our Nation’s ability to win future conflicts and is valued by DoD leadership.
While it is unclear the likelihood that lawmakers would approve any request for a future BRAC, many experts believe Congress will be forced to acknowledge the military’s need to address capacity at some point in the future. Other states have responded to the looming threats to military installations posed by the combination of DoD’s constraints and national threats by increasing dedicated support to retain and promote local bases.
Indiana can – and must – establish efforts like other states that support and strengthen the infrastructure within military bases, ongoing maintenance and quality of life surrounding all our bases and installations. We Hoosiers have a proud and respected history of contributing to our nation’s defense and should continue ensuring that our installations and our communities are poised to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
Making investments to ensure that resources are available to support the men and women completing vital national security missions must be at the forefront of the discussion.