Navy Analysts Fret Over Shrinking Fleet
Now numbering 276 warships, down from 530 in 1991. Story from Signon SanDiego:
Navy leaders and military analysts have warned that if Congress doesn't boost the Pentagon's shipbuilding budget – $11.6 billion this fiscal year – the Navy won't be able to meet its growing list of commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Latin America and the western Pacific.
They raised some of those concerns at West 2007, a large military conference that began yesterday at the San Diego Convention Center...
Meanwhile, the nation's six shipyards – including General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego – fear they'll have to lay off more workers if the Navy's pace of new projects doesn't speed up. The lack of steady work also prompts highly trained employees who design and construct warships to find other careers.
I have a feeling that lawmakers and industry officials often are more concerned about jobs and votes rather than our security. Two recent articles from David Axe and one of my own give a realistic view of the fighting prowess of our much smaller , but vastly more capable new Navy in the Cruise Missile Age:
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