The U.S. Navy is not expecting the best of times in 2020. Due to funding cuts, the Pentagon is ready to take radical measures.
According to the presidential administration and budget department, the Defense Department will reduce the program of building Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers from twelve to seven ships. Thus, the Pentagon will be able to save $9.4 billion, which is 8% of the total budget allocation for the Navy.
It is worth noting that such measures run counter to the United States Navy strategy proposed in 2018. According to the plan, the military fleet was planned to expand to 355 ships. In practice, this number could be reduced from 293 to 287.
Moreover, the Pentagon intends to withdraw from service about two dozen more ships within the next five years. In particular, we are talking about three landing ships class “Whidbey Island”, which were built back in the eighties of last century, although the plan to operate them before 14 years. Four Freedom and Independence class ships, as well as 13 of the 22 Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers, which production also began in the 1980s, will follow the same fate.
It is worth noting that the US Presidential Administration did not evaluate the plans proposed by the Pentagon. The White House insists on further following the strategy of 2018, but the crisis of financing prevents it.