Pentagon recalibrates USN fleet numbers but lacks updated force structure assessment
US shipbuilders and Congress are anxiously awaiting details of the USN’s 30-year shipbuilding plan, which is already running five months late.
This blueprint will propel the size of the fleet beyond the 355-ship objective set in 2016 and it could lead to a fundamental recalibration of how the service defines ‘Battle Force’ ships and.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper recently revealed his view that the USN needs to expand. ‘I want to make sure we have a future naval force that can meet the needs of deterring China and again, failing that, fighting and winning,’ he asserted in a radio interview
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