The Navy plans to purchase fewer battleforce ships in the next five years because that's what it can afford to buy with a flattening defense topline, according to a top service official. Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the Navy's deputy assistant secretary for budget, attributed the fewer number of ships in the fiscal year 2021 future years defense program to the money needed for the Columbia-class submarine program, the Navy's ship readiness problems and a flat topline budget. "That's part of...
