The Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan 2022 assessment lays out an ambitious plan to grow the American combat fleet, nearly doubling it from roughly 300 current combat ships to 523 in less than a quarter of a century.
US Naval Institute News first reported on the plan. It comes from Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, and part of the fleet expansion proposal is to add 150 robotic, uncrewed vessels, to serve a variety of purposes.
“Strategic competitors and non-state actors are gaining access to cutting-edge technologies that enable them to threaten American interests and national security,” the plan says early in its assessment of the security situation. “Artificial intelligence, ubiquitous sensors, unmanned systems, and long-range precision weapons are proliferating globally, making contested spaces more transparent and more lethal, and transforming how navies will fight in the future.”
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