![]() Still, the Navy has resumed a strategy of seeking to divest legacy programs to pursue new technologies and platforms, an approach that continued to receive both skepticism and criticism from Congress this year. ![]() While the Trump administration at the end of 2020 unveiled a delayed shipbuilding plan to increase the size of the fleet, it remains unclear what direction the Biden administration – which only submitted a budget request for the current fiscal year as opposed to a five-year outlook – will take. This year began with a level of uncertainty for Navy acquisition, as an administration change left naval observers wondering how the new Biden administration would approach the future fleet. This post is part of a series looking back at the top naval stories from 2021. Here, the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Montana (SSN-794) is seen just after launch in March 2021 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. “The Department is reviewing Large and Small Surface Combatant and Attack Submarine procurement quantities in FY2028-2032.Submarine construction continues apace in the latest US Navy budget request, which asks for two more Virginia-class submarines and another installment for the missile sub Columbia. “A decision on CVN 82/83 two-ship buy is required no later than FY25 and will be evaluated during upcoming force structure and industrial base studies,” the document reads. While the first two alternatives only show the Navy buying one Ford-class aircraft carrier between FY 2028 and FY 2032, the third option shows the service purchasing one in FY 2028 and another in FY 2032. The three procurement schemes show what ships the Navy could purchase between FY 2028 and FY 2032, a timeframe the service is calling a “transition” period after the FY 2023 five-year spending plan, and between FY 2033 and FY 2052, which the Navy is calling the “future force design” timeframe. FY 2027 would also see the service decommission USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), the lead ship of the class. The long-range plan shows the Navy decommissioning 13 ships in FY 2024, another 13 in FY 2025, 14 ships in FY 2026 and 13 in FY 2027. While the proposal forecasts the Navy’s thinking for the next 30 years, the ultimate decision on which ships to purchase and which ships to retire rests with Congress, which has repeatedly criticized the service for decommissioning ships at a faster rate than it can build new ones. The year 2045 was the timeline former Defense Secretary Mark Esper used for his shipbuilding analysis during the Trump administration. “The increased procurement level, informed by industrial base capacity and on-time and on-budget performance, achieves 326 manned battle force ships in the mid-2030s, and ultimately achieves 363 manned battle force ships in FY2045,” the document continues. Under the proposal, the Navy would decommission the entire cruiser fleet by the end of FY 2027, including the ones that are currently in the cruiser modernization program. ![]() The Navy also wants to continue decommissioning its aging Ticonderoga-class cruiser fleet, starting with USS Antietam (CG-54), USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) and USS Shiloh (CG-67) in FY 2024. Jackson entered the fleet in 2015, while Montgomery was commissioned in 2016. The Fiscal Year 2023 30-year shipbuilding plan, obtained by USNI News, shows the Navy decommissioning two Independence-class LCS – USS Jackson (LCS-6) and USS Montgomery (LCS-8) – in FY 2024. The Department of the Navy’s first long-range shipbuilding plan in three years proposes multiple fleet procurement schemes for the Navy and forecasts the service decommissioning two Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships in the coming years, according to the document. Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Jackson (LCS-6) pierside in Guam.
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