Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Friday the Navy needs to expand from the currently planned 308 to 355 ships, including 12 aircraft carriers.
The new goal was contained in the 2016 Force Structure Assessment, the results of which were released at the Pentagon.
The assessment recommends 12 carriers, 104 large surface combatants, 52 small surface combatants, 38 amphibious ships, 78 submarines and 71 logistics and command ships. This would bring the Navy to 355 ships, compared with the current shipbuilding target of 308.
The biggest increases proposed are in destroyers and submarines, but the unique expeditionary base ships built by General Dynamics NASSCO would increase from three to six. The number of aircraft carriers would grow from 11 to 12.
“To continue to protect America and defend our strategic interests around the world, all while continuing the counter terrorism fight and appropriately competing with a growing China and resurgent Russia, our Navy must continue to grow,” said Mabus.
The Navy’s current target of 308 is based on shipbuilding already underway. Maybus said the decline in building that occurred from 2001-2009 has been reversed, but more ships are needed.
“Maintaining this momentum, and the cost-saving business practices we have established, will be critical to ensuring the Navy is able to achieve the FSA-recommended fleet size and is positioned to maintain the global presence the Navy and Marine Corps uniquely provide our nation,” Mabus said.
