US Navy publishes new plan for more than 350 crewed ships and submarines by 2045
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Chafee fires a Tomahawk Block V missile. (Photo: USN)
The US Navy is pushing for a fleet of over 350 crewed ships and submarines and around 150 large USVs and UUVs under the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm Mike Gilday's Navigation Plan 2022.
The new 2045 force goal comes after the USN submitted a three-pronged 30-year shipbuilding plan to US lawmakers earlier this year, giving three paths forward for the future fleet.
The new goal, detailed in the CNO's NAVPLAN, would see the USN grow to a fleet of over 350 crewed vessels, around 150 large USVs and UUVs, and an estimated 3,000 aircraft in the 2040s.
In the document, Gilday writes that the USN would require 3 to 5% budget growth above actual inflation to modernise and grow the fleet.
Failing this, Gilday wrote that the service would prioritise modernisation 'over preserving
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