Small Surface Combatants Could Solve Navy's Fleet Size Woes. (DISPATCHES)

• Date: 01 February 2025
• Author: Luckenbaugh, Josh
• Published date: 01 February 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Navy is struggling to meet its fleet size goals, and speakers at a recent defense forum floated one idea that could quickly expand the nation's maritime force: smaller ships.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., described the Navy's surface fleet as "in a near-death spiral." The current fleet, he said, is aging rapidly, leading to higher maintenance costs, while new ship programs are fraught with delays.

The Navy needs more ships, and it needs them quickly, he said. "We are asking our current force to protect free and open sea lanes. We're asking them to forward deploy in three dangerous theaters that are increasingly dangerous, and we're preparing for a potential high-intensity conflict all at the same time," he said during a talk at the U.S. Naval Institute's Defense Forum Washington 2024 in December.

"A larger fleet would give us options and flexibility" to handle this array of threats and operational environments, Wicker said.

Eric Labs, senior analyst for naval forces and weapons at the...