Navy grapples with flattening topline as it aims to grow the fleet

By Mallory Shelbourne / January 21, 2020 at 5:30 AM
Navy officials are wrestling with increased pressure to achieve a 355-ship fleet while facing a flattening defense topline. After months of emphasizing the need for capability over quantity, the Navy now faces an ambitious 10-year deadline from the Trump administration to achieve the 355-vessel objective. While top civilian officials say the Navy may need to assess potential tradeoffs to work toward a larger fleet, service chiefs are openly discussing whether the Pentagon should reevaluate the traditional, roughly equal split of...

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