Issues and Options for the Navy's Combat Logistics Force
Abstract
Building the 600-ship Navy has been a key aspect of the Administration's program to improve conventional military forces. The Navy has grown from about 479 ships in 1981 to about 570 today and expects to grow to about 600 vessels in the 1990s. To support the expanded fleet, the Navy's logistics establishment may also have to grow. The ships of the Combat Logistics Force (CLF) are a critical part of the Navy's logistics system. The CLF resupplies Navy combat ships at sea with fuel, stores, and ammunition. If the logistics force grows, however, there will be less money available to buy primary combat ships, such as cruisers, destroyers, and Marine transport ships. Relative to its own goals, the Navy is short of the most modern vessels in these categories. Moreover, decisions about what ships to buy must accommodate declines in total defense spending that may restrict funds for shipbuilding. Thus, the Navy faces difficult trade-offs. Should purchases of CLF ships be pared back in order to maintain funding for primary combat ships? Such a reduction would risk degrading the capability of these combat ships because there might not be enough CLF ships to support them. Or are the CLF ships of sufficient priority to merit sustaining, or even increasing, planned purchases?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA530785
Entities
People
- Michael B. Berger
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office