A new Mitre study says the U.S. Navy needs a fleet size of 414 combat ships that would include 160 destroyers and cruisers, 72 attack submarines and 14 aircraft carriers, Breaking Defense reported Friday.Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. writes Mitre’s 15-year shipbuilding plan for the Navy would cancel the Littoral Combat Ship program and replace it with new classes of ships such as frigates and magazine ships.
Mitre’s study suggests a “high-low mix†of a small number of high-end combat vessels and a large number of low-end warships such as magazine ships – MG(X) – and diesel-powered attack submarines.
The nonprofit organization recommended that the service branch continue to build nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines at a rate of two vessels per year and replace the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock vessels with either three modified Watson-class cargo ships or six Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ships.
Mitre also called for the Navy to prioritize the deployment of the Hyper-Velocity Projectile for use with electromagnetic railguns aboard destroyers and cruisers, the report added.
