US Navy reduces fleet goal to 306 vessels

In a recent report to Congress, the US Navy (USN) revised its combatant vessel requirement to 306 ships, down from the previous fleet size requirement of 313 ships.

According to the navy, the change in fleet numbers is largely in response to the Department of Defense's 2012 defence strategy, which shifts focus to the Asia-Pacific region. The report, sent to Congress on 31 January, said that navy officials last year conducted assessments of operational plans and made changes to shipbuilding programmes and ship employment cycles that ultimately yielded the new requirement.

"The 306-ship combatant force possesses the requisite capability and capacity to deliver credible deterrence, sea control, and power projection to deter or contain conflict and, if called upon, to fight and win our nation's wars," officials said in the report.

USN planners said they reduced the number of hulls in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class to 52 because of a reduced presence requirement in US Africa Command (AFRICOM). Originally, the class was intended to grow to 55 ships. So far, three of the initial ships in the class have been delivered to the navy. USS Freedom is scheduled to deploy to Singapore in March and mark LCS' first operational deployment.