Trump plan could mean Bath Iron Works benefit

BATH -- On one of the final campaign stops, President elect Donald J. Trump told a crowd of more than 1,000 people gathered in Lisbon that Bath Iron Works would receive more work under his administration.

“It’s all gonna change. That includes rebuilding our badly depleted Navy, which is now the smallest it has been since World War I. My plan builds the 350 ship Navy we need and everybody requests,” said Trump. “And that means a lot more work for — I’m sure you’ve never heard of this place — Bath Iron Works here in Maine.

“The rebuilding of our military will be a nation-wide effort from Bath Iron Works to Portsmouth and Norfolk Naval shipyards, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and all around the country,” he added.

The 350 ship figure is not entirely new. The Navy’s current 30-year shipbuilding plan would increase the size of the Navy to 308 ships from approximately 270 now. According to a Congressional Research Service report conducted by Specialist in Navy Affairs Ronald O’Rourke released the day after the election, that number has fluctuated between 306-328 ships in various Navy plans since 2006. The Trump campaign compared their figure to a proposal from the National Defense Panel to increase the size of the Navy to somewhere between 323-346 ships.

Read more: http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2016-11-25/Front_Page/Trump_plan_could_mean_BIW_benefit.html