CRS on shipbuilding

The Congressional Research Service this week issued a report on Navy force structure and shipbuilding plans.

However, the Navy announced in February it is conducting a new force structure assessment because, which could change the number of ships required by the service.

The Navy has a requirement for 308 ships. "The 308[-ship] Navy is based upon a force structure that was set back in 2012 and amended in '14," Vice Adm. Joseph Mulloy, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, said during a Feb. 25 House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing. "At that point a man named [Vladimir] Putin wasn't quite as rampant in the world, the Chinese hadn't grown as big . . . we're going to take a hard look at it."

When reviewing the Navy's fiscal year 2017 shipbuilding budget request potential issues for Congress include the size of the Pentagon's budget, the affordability of the service's 30-year shipbuilding plan and the appropriate future size of the Navy, according to the CRS report first obtained by Secrecy News.