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Richardson said
the Navy was reviewing an assessment completed in 2012 and
updated in 2014, before Russia's reemergence as a "global power
competitor," and the start of the U.S.-led campaign to defeat
Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
"I would bet a paycheck that it's going to be a number greater
than 308 ships, just by virtue of the additive nature of the
complexity and the contestants that are confronting us right
now," Richardson told an event hosted by Washington defense
consultant Jim McAleese and Credit Suisse.
The top U.S. naval officer said the Navy was already increasing
its purchases of Virginia-class submarines built by General
Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., but would
also invest in unmanned vessels.
The study is due to be completed this summer in time to inform
the Navy's fiscal 2018 budget proposal, according to a Navy
official. The Navy's fleet is currently around 285 ships.
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly called for an increase in
the size of the Navy's fleet, arguing that the sheer number of
threats around the world requires more ships to help the United
States "project power."
Others argue that today's ships are more capable and advanced
than in years past, increasing the power and capability of each
ship and making the larger fleets of the 1980s unnecessary.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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