From the plan itself:
"This era of strategic competition requires a larger, modernized, capable, and lethal multi-domain Navy to face multiple pacing threats. The Navy is moving forward building advanced platforms such as Ford class aircraft carriers, DDG 51 Flt III, FFG 62, and SSN 774 with the Virginia Payload Module. Meeting Joint Force operational requirements under current budgetary guidance and against the backdrop of deteriorating industrial base market conditions over the past four decades requires difficult choices. These choices include
divesting less capable ships that are expensive to repair and maintain, along with ships that provide less relevant capability against the requirements of our pacing challenge. But these hard choices can also present opportunities, such as investments in promising technologies that can be fielded at operationally relevant timelines and scales over the coming years. Careful prioritization in the near-term, in accordance with the National Security Strategy and the 2022 National Defense Strategy, will result in a Navy battle force that is more ready, sustainable, and capable of securing the nation’s interests in peace or war."
But why would we bother to read the actual document?
Just released. You can read it at the link.
US Navy Ship Building
The Navy presented two plans, the" all-the-money" plan and the "flat-budget" plan. The all-the-money plan builds ships at the rate necessary to hit a planned fleet size of 381 ships by 2042.
Several retirements of ships listed. Interesting retirement case that had a private shipyard service USS Helena (SSN 725) beginning in 2017 and now propose to retire the submarine. This was an early test case for a private new construction yard to repair an in-service submarine. Following the 2017 deployment, Helena went through about $265 million of work at HII's Newport News Shipbuilding, Va. Newport News wrapped its work in 2022. They propose now to retire the submarine, along with two other Los Angeles class boats next year.
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