The U.S. Navy’s fleet would never reach the statutorily required 355 ships under two of the three scenarios outlined in the service’s latest long-range shipbuilding plan, Defense News reports.
The plan, submitted to lawmakers Monday (April 2022) and provided to Defense News Tuesday, also details a third scenario, which the Navy describes as one the “industrial base could support with significant additional investment not reflected in this plan” and “without funding constraints” in the federal budget. This version reaches a 355-ship fleet in 2042.