Rubio Campaign Press Release - Marco Rubio Wants to Rebuild Our Military. Here's His Detailed Plan to Do It.

As President, Marco will:

Restore Military Strength

• Work to return to Secretary Gates' fiscal year 2012 budget baseline over the course of his first term and begin to undo the damage caused by $1 trillion in indiscriminate defense cuts.
• Plug critical operations and maintenance shortfalls, restore military readiness through accelerated training and exercises, and make targeted investments in urgent modernization priorities.
• Build a "full spectrum" force able to maintain security simultaneously in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Recapitalize the Navy

• Immediately begin to increase the size of the Navy to a minimum of 323 ships by 2024.
• Work with our allies in Asia to forward deploy a second aircraft carrier in the Pacific while increasing the carrier force from 10 to 12.
• Restore continuous, credible naval combat power to the Mediterranean Sea.
• Build the new Ohio-class Replacement (ORP) ballistic submarine to ensure a credible and survivable 21st century strategic deterrent.
• Build at least two attack submarines every year to preserve America's undersea dominance amid intensifying naval competition.
• Fully integrate the F-35B and push ahead with development of a new amphibious-assault vehicle.
• Build an amphibious fleet of 38 ships (from today's 30) to meet the Marine Corps wartime lift requirement.
• Reverse reductions to the operating status of 11 of our 22 current cruisers.
• Replenish depleted inventories of critical munitions while accelerating development and procurement of new advanced strike and anti-ship missiles.
• Fully fund Navy-Marine Corps maintenance and modernization accounts.

Modernize the Air Force

• Invest in better Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities at the theater and strategic levels.
• Prioritize returning Air Force readiness to pre-Obama levels.
• Accelerate F-35A procurement.
• Develop and field the Long Range Strike Bomber capable of both conventional and nuclear missions to replace our current aging fleet of B-52, B-1, and B-2 bombers.
• Reposture the tactical Air Force for increased presence in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia.
• Ensure that the KC-46 tanker program stays on track to replace the aging KC-135 fleet.
• Ensure development of the Long-Range Stand-Off weapon.

Strengthen the Ground Forces

• Reverse the current cuts and maintain the Marine Corps and the Army at their pre-9/11 end-strengths of 182,000 and 490,000 respectively.
• Strengthen international partnerships to reduce the need to deploy ground troops.
• Work to return a corps headquarters to Europe and station additional BCTs in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression.
• Reexamine the Army's mobility and prepositioning to respond to crises in the Pacific.
• Continue to invest in Army Special Operations capabilities to remain at the cutting edge of the continuing war on terrorism.
• Maintain the Army's proficiency across the full spectrum of war in order to combat state actors, defeat non-state threats, and shape the security environment to America's advantage.
• Revamp the Army's acquisition system and specifically look at options to modernize its aging vehicle and helicopter fleets.

Reform Military Personnel and Benefits

• Reform the military benefit structure and military career paths and specializations to attract and retain high quality personnel to the military, while preserving a sustainable balance between training and procurement needs.
• Continue recent efforts to reform military retirement, education, and healthcare on the basis of the recommendations of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission.
• Ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs is accountable and that our veterans have access to the best treatment possible when they return from the battlefield.

Transform the Pentagon Bureaucracy

• Optimize the Pentagon workforce by shrinking the Pentagon bureaucracy and achieving the correct balance between uniformed personnel, civilians, and contractors.
• Facilitate a more-technologically agile and adaptable workforce that can leverage technological evolution.
• Develop fellowship programs in the private sector for defense department personnel to renew skills to comport with industry standards.

Overhaul the Acquisition Process

• Streamline the acquisition process to prevent costly mistakes, hold private contractors accountable, and field top of the line technology to future warfighters.
• Remove barriers and strengthen exemptions for commercial acquisitions allowing the Pentagon to leverage cutting edge commercial technology, such as data analytics, cloud computing, 3-D printing, and robotics.

Modernize Missile Defense for the 21^st Century

• Expand missile defense by speeding up deployment of interceptors in Europe, deploying a third site in the United States, and ensuring that advanced programs are adequately funded.
• Work interoperably with allies on missile defense — we should encourage the spread of missile defense technology as a solution to the spread of ballistic and cruise missiles.
• Increase the Missile Defense Agency's Research & Development budget and create a rapid-fielding office to focus on fielding directed energy weapons, railguns, UAV-enabled defenses, and other means to defeat a threat missile across its entire flight trajectory.

Modernize and Protect Strategic Assets

• Ensure continued freedom of access to space in the face of a potential adversary's development of anti-satellite missiles.
• Modernize the nuclear arsenal and stop the Obama administration's proposed cuts to the nuclear arsenal.
• Pursue arms control only when it is in America's interest and when prospective negotiating partners comply with their commitments to us.

Promote Innovation for the 21^st Century

• Ensure U.S. military technological superiority by prioritizing key areas of defense technology that will counter those adversaries and competitors seeking to undermine our military predominance.
• Improve anti-submarine capabilities; procure advanced air warfare capabilities; sustain our advantage in precision strike from land, air, and sea; and invest in electronic warfare capabilities.
• Expand the use of rapid acquisition processes for key innovative technologies.

Posture the Force for the Cyber Era

• Improve cyber defense capabilities by hardening DoD systems and examining the sourcing of our weapons components.
• Outline a declaratory policy so our adversaries understand the consequences of attacking our computer systems.
• Improve offensive cyber capabilities and ensure that Cyber Command cyber mission forces have the tools and authorities to perform the cyber offensive mission.
• Better integrate cyber threats and cyber aspects of modern warfare in training, doctrine, and exercises across the combatant commands.
• Ensure that the cyber threat is appropriately prioritized by all services; study whether cyber should be its own service rather than a mission of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.