Adm. John Richardson, U.S. Navy chief of naval operations, announced that the service is reconsidering its proposed 355-ship fleet after a series of changes to the Pentagon’s security efforts, Defense One reported Friday.
The service announced its plan to increase the number of its warships from 287 in late 2016. However, Richardson said the evolving security environment and updated National Defense Strategy encouraged the Navy to re-evaluate its goal and conduct another force structure assessment. He said the Navy might lower its target but the goal to increase the number of its warships will remain.Â
“I will tell you, the security environment has only gotten more sporty,†Richardson said. “We’ll take that into account.â€
The admiral also said the Navy may change its definition of “warship†to include unmanned platforms.
“Technology is starting to come to play, so what counts as a naval platform is going to be an interesting discussion in this new force structure assessment,†he said.
