Proposed 355-Ship Navy Could Open Door to Increased Destroyer Production: The head of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program is anticipating increased demand for the ship as a result of the Navy’s new 355-vessel shipbuilding goal, and growing production from two to three ships a year is within the realm of possibility, he said Wednesday.
“As a program, we used to routinely build three ships a year. Right now, we’re budgeted at two ships per year,” said Capt. Casey Moton during a briefing at the Surface Navy Association conference in Arlington, Virginia. “So if you ask Capt. Moton if the DDG-51 community is capable of increasing the program to three ships a year, it’s pretty hard for me to stand here with that chart and then tell you no. I’m confident that we could do it.”
The Navy in December released a new fleet assessment plan that boosted its shipbuilding goal from 308 to a whopping 355 vessels—even more than had been proposed by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. The service recommended growing its fleet of large surface combatants, consisting of cruisers and destroyers, from 88 to 104 ships.
