By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR
WASHINGTON: Of the four armed services, the Navy seems set for the smoothest sailing under Donald Trump. The President-Elect’s pro-Russian sentiments cast doubt on the US Army’s main mission, even as he seeks to swell the service’s ranks. His personal intervention in programs like Air Force One and the F-35 has alarmed the Air Force. Even his proposed increase in Marine Corps rifle battalions doesn’t actually match the kind of troops the Commandant wants. But Trump’s three big blessings for the Navy — at least, so far — are entirely unmixed:
- Most obviously, the President-Elect wants to grow the fleet to 350 ships, a whopping 28 percent increase over the current 274. The Navy’s officially said it needs even more ships, 355. Either figure would require a decades-long building campaign. which many in Congress would support.
- More recently, Trump has said “the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability,” even if the price is an “arms race.” While Trump didn’t name the Navy in this context, it’s the Navy that controls most US nuclear forces and whose highest-priority program is a nuclear deterrence platform, the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (formerly the Ohio Replacement Program).
- Finally, in contrast to his praise for Putin, Trump has called China “an enemy.” That puts a strategic emphasis on the Pacific. While all four services contribute to security in Asia, the sheer amount of water means the Navy naturally plays the leading role and gets the lion’s share of funding.
Read the full story at BreakingDefense