Navy's new fleet plan seen as good news for BIW

File Photo / Tim Greenway The U.S. Navy has just unveiled its Force Structure Assessment, which calls for a significant expansion of its fleet — including an increase of 16 surface combatant ships of the types built at the Bath shipyard.

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By James McCarthy

The U.S. Navy is proposing a significant expansion in the size of its fleet, with its new Force Structure Assessment calling for 355 ships, which is five more than the incoming Trump administration’s stated goal of 350 and almost 50 more than the current 308 ships in its fleet.

DefenseNews characterized the proposal as “the biggest proposed expansion since the early 1980s.”

The 2016 assessment recommends a 355-ship fleet, including 12 carriers, 104 large surface combatants, 52 small surface combatants, 38 amphibious ships and 66 submarines. The assessment is one element of the Navy’s FY-2018 30-year shipbuilding plan and would put “shipbuilding on an upward glide slope,” according to a U.S. Navy announcement.

"To continue to protect America and defend our strategic interests around the world, all while continuing the counter terrorism fight and appropriately competing with a growing China and resurgent Russia, our Navy must continue to grow," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement.

Mabus said the Navy had put 86 ships under contract over the last seven years, reversing the decline in shipbuilding that took place from 2001-09. He said the new assessment would maintain that momentum and “the cost-saving business practices we have established.” He characterized the recommended fleet size as necessary in order to “maintain the global presence the Navy and Marine Corps uniquely provide our nation.”

Collins, King applaud Navy plan

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King in a joint statement following the Navy’s announcement on Friday, said the assessment calls for an increase of 16 large surface combatant ships — including the DDG 1000 and Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers built at Bath Iron Works.

“We welcome the Navy’s candid assessment of the naval fleet that is necessary to protect the United States,” the senators said in their joint statement. “Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has been a staunch supporter of shipbuilding during his eight year tenure, and we applaud him today for taking a fresh look at the necessary size and capability of the Navy’s fleet, particularly while China continues to modernize its own naval forces.”

Collins is a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and King is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.