The U.S. Navy is looking to reevaluate its structure next year for a potential long-term reorganization of budget, National Defense Magazine reported Monday.The service branch’s 2019 force structure assessment will focus on the fleet’s composition and determine the need in adjustments for each type of ship, said  Vice Adm. William Merz, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems.
The upcoming assessment follows a previous 2016 iteration that indicated an annual need for $20B in funds to increase the fleet’s size to 355 ships.
“We’re still very committed to that [355 ship] number, but we’re only committed to the point where it’s the right mix of ships,†Merz said.
Bryan Clark, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said that the upcoming study may not significantly change the number of sought ships, but may likely augment the projected fleet composition.
