As a candidate and as President, Donald Trump promised to build a 350-ship US Navy from the current 275-ship navy. Was that ever a realistic goal? Naval leaders called for a steady build to just over 300 ships in the next 20 years. But political declarations and naval aspirations eventually hit budget considerations. No matter how much the President says about increasing the USN, he still has to get money from Congress. And there doesn’t even seem to be much of a fight for it. The budget introduced for FY2018 this week includes money only for the construction of eight ships – and these had been planned for some years. See Ellen Mitchell, “Navy leaders defend Trump's lackluster ship budget,” in The Hill, at http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/defense-homeland-security/335066-navy-leaders-defend-trumps-lackluster-ship-budget
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Jan2017 Budget Directive clearly highlighted readiness first in order to maximize USN resources today. LSC procurement is being curtailed and agree with SECNAV & SECDEF that a proper procurement process is need for new Frigate to ensure best possible hull received. Also, USN now moving to positon of SLRP to extend and increase hulls to close gap. Still 8 ships is more than RCN could hope for in next ten years.