Expeditionary Expectations: Navy, Marine Corps at Odds Over Fleet Requirements.

• Author: Heckmann, Laura

The possibility of conflict in the Indo-Pacific and a rapidly evolving technological Landscape have reshaped the nature of expeditionary warfare, but the Navy and Marine Corps have differing views on what ships and systems they need to deter potential foes.

The world is changing at a "lightning pace," said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro at the National Defense Industrial Association's Expeditionary Warfare Conference in February.

"On the other side of the world, the People's Republic of China continues to operate its maritime forces in a way that threatens free, uninterrupted economic activities in the South China Sea," he said.

As the threat evolves, so must the response, he added.

Both the Navy and the Marine Corps have launched substantial modernization efforts, from an updated Navigation Plan to a complete restructuring of the Marine Corps with Force Design 2030.

Released in July 2022, the Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan 2022 emphasized integrated deterrence and global mobility.

"We must become more agile in how we develop our future force," Rear Adm. James Pitts, director of naval warfare integration, said during the conference. "And we must be more combat credible."

Navigation Plan 2022 outlined six imperatives: expand distance, leverage deception, harden defense, increase distribution, ensure delivery and generate decision advantage.

The world is entering a new age of warfare, "one in which the integration of technology, concepts, partners and systems--more than fleet size alone--will determine victory in conflict," the plan stated.

Fleet size is important, and the Navy's capacity is one of its top priorities, Pitts said. However, if money talks, the Navy's 2023 budget request said submarines.

The Navy's 2023 budget request included nearly $3.1 billion in continued procurement funding for the first of its Columbia-class ballistic missile "submarines" and about $2.8 billion in advance procurement funding for subsequent boats in the class. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in December 2022, authorized all of it.

The Navy's budget submission estimated the procurement cost of the first Columbia-class boat at about $15.2 billion, with the total procurement cost of a 12-ship class coming in at $112.7 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service report "Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress," released in December.

The Navy's updated Navigation Plan cited the 2022 National Defense Strategy as the rationale for the revised plan, which specifically identified a shift in national security objectives from counterterrorism to long-term competition with China.

The budget request listed the service's priorities as strengthening maritime dominance and strategic partnerships to expand fleet capabilities for distributed operations. The request called for a deployable battle force of 28s ships in fiscal year 2023, and procurement of nine battle force ships: two each of Virginia-class attack submarines and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and one each of the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, America-class amphibious assault ship, San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, John Lewis-class replenishment oiler and Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is focused on one main procurement...