The future size of the US Navy
Two groups working on the study suggested the fleet size should be anywhere between 480 to 534 ships. The new Navy would focus more on smaller ships rather than large vessels such as aircraft carriers.Now, the US Navy has an estimated 293 ships that are battle ready. At present this is expected to increase up to 355 by 2030.
The final version of the Future Navy Force Study should be published by the end of this year.The study is the result of a collaborations between offices within the Pentagon along with the Hudson Institute a think-tank based in Washington D.C.
US Secretary of Defense’s statements
Speaking at a recent Rand think tank recently Mark Esper US Secretary of Defense said: “In short, it will be a balanced force of over 350 ships — both manned and unmanned — and will be built in a relevant time frame and budget-informed manner,” To achieve this result Esper also called for increase funding for shipbuilding.
Esper also said to Defense News in a February interview: “One of the ways you get [to a larger fleet] quickly is moving toward lightly manned [ships], which over time can be unmanned. We can go with lightly manned ships, get them out there. You can build them so they’re optionally manned and then, depending on the scenario or the technology, at some point in time they can go unmanned.”
China’s navy fleet
The Pentagon’s recent report on China’s military power claimed that China has the largest navy fleet in the world with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines. However, the size of the fleet is not the best measure of overall naval power. The US already has a much larger tonnage than China. The US has eleven aircraft carriers while China has only two.
Esper claimed in a recent speech: “Even if we stopped building new ships, it would take the [People’s Republic of China] years to close the gap when it comes to our capability on the high seas.Ship numbers are important, but they don’t tell the whole story.”
