March 30, 2024
The Navy Needs 355 Ships by 2030
The Navy remains the tip of the spear for generating and projecting deterrence in the Western Pacific. The latest budget does not reflect that fact.
by John R. Mills
After several years of budget growth, energy, and a glimmer of new shipyards, the defense budget release for Fiscal Year 2025 was much anticipated. When the FY 2025 submission was released, there was a delayed response as defense analysts struggled to process what just happened.
Instead of growth, the theme was shrinkage. There was a distinct delta between the talking points of the secretary of defense’s press release and the Comptroller’s submissions from the services. Across the services, platforms, and systems will be retired faster than they are replaced. For example, six Navy ships are being acquired, and nineteen battleforce ships are being retired. The simple math shows a net loss of thirteen ships from the Navy, yet the secretary’s announcement is overflowing with aspirational platitudes. Professor James Holmes said simply, the “New Defense Budget Makes No Sense.”
Radical lane changes or new directions in budget submissions are normally over-explained well in advance. In one example, the Army is giving away a significant portion of its JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over The Shore) expeditionary port capability to the Gaza Pier and is replete with talk of a watercraft renaissance, yet the Army Rail Float Containerization Equipment Line Item (P.43) goes down twenty-five percent. The optics of the DOD budget submission are deadly serious for the adversary nations of America. They see right through the textual floweriness, smell weakness, and suspect a lack of resolve.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/navy-needs-355-ships-2030-210310
