Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
Abstract
The Navy is proposing to maintain in coming years a fleet of 313 ships, including, among other things, 11 aircraft carriers, 48 attack submarines (SSNs), 88 cruisers and destroyers (including 7 DD(X) destroyers and 19 CG(X) cruisers), 55 small Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), 31 amphibious ships, and a Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), or MPF(F), squadron with 12 new-construction amphibious and sealift-type ships. Navy officials have also stated that they hope to avoid substantial year-to-year changes in the composition of the five- or six-year Navy shipbuilding plan. The Navy s 313-ship proposal is intended to end a period of ambiguity and uncertainty in Navy ship force structure planning dating back to at least February 2003. This ambiguity, together with year-to-year volatility in the composition of the Navy s shipbuilding plan, created difficulties for Congress in conducting oversight of Navy budgets and programs, and for industry in making rational business-planning decisions. Ambiguity in Navy force-structure planning may also have created difficulties for the Navy in defending its requirements in discussions with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Potential oversight issues for Congress include: ! Will the Navy s 313-ship proposal be endorsed by OSD as an official Department of Defense (DOD) planning goal? If not, where would that leave Navy ship force-structure planning? ! Does the 313-ship proposal include an appropriate number of ships? ! Is the 313-ship proposal affordable? ! Does the Navy s FY2007-FY2011 shipbuilding plan adequately support the 313-ship proposal? ! Does the Navy s FY2007-FY2011 shipbuilding plan adequately support the shipbuilding industrial base? Regarding the first question, the final report on the DOD 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) refrained from explicitly endorsing the 313-ship plan, stating only that DOD supports a Navy larger than today s 281-ship fleet that includes 11 aircraft carriers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 14, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA472401
Entities
People
- Ronald O'Rourke
Organizations
- Library of Congress