If the Navy were only allowed to decommission two ships for every three it added to the fleet, additional costs to the service would reach over $2.5 billion, according to a Defense Department appeal regarding the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill. The House version of the authorization bill initially included language long championed by outgoing House Armed Services seapower subcommittee chairman Gene Taylor (D-MS), who argued it was necessary to get the Navy closer to a 313-ship fleet. "If...
