Navy Review

According to Navy Times, Congress has criticized the US Navy for only ordering 5 ships next year for its diminishing fleet.

The Navy’s ships and personnel continue to face long deployments and less time at home. This means less retention rate for trained navy personnel, considered vital in the high tech navy, and the early wearing out of ship hulls.

The Navy wants to have a few large, expensive vessels instead of a larger fleet capable of meeting its many global commitments. The navy had earlier proposed it needed 375 ships to adequately meet its goals. A minimum of 11 hulls per year will be needed to reach this target.

The as yet unbuilt Littoral Combat Ship is being touted as restoring numbers to the US Navy. The transformational vessel is planned to be much smaller than present Navy warships and cost less. A variety of missions is being proposed including mine sweeping and coastal patrol.

It is also hoped that unmanned vehicles will find a place in the fleet, and the navy is experimenting with robot subs and UAV’s.

Below are the vessels ordered by the US Navy for 2003:

· 2 DDG-51 destroyers
· 1 SSN-774 submarine
· 1 LPD-17 amphibious ship
· 1 cargo ship