Navy Focusing on Getting More Use from Old Subs.

• Position: Admiral Frank Bowman, interview - Interview

Conceding that the Navy's dream of increasing its fleet of attack submarines by 20 boats to a total of 76 by 2025 is "too expensive," Adm. Frank Bowman, director of naval nuclear propulsion, told a defense writers breakfast that the service is focusing on getting more use out of the ships that it already owns.

The Navy, he said, is restructuring ship management and maintenance to extend the lives of its aging boats, increasing deployment of unmanned aircraft and underwater vehicles on submarines and even considering a plan to base three to five subs on Guam to increase their presence in the tense Western Pacific region.

A sub...