Surface combatants dominate future fleet.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: NAVY

The Navy's proposed 313-ship fleet is top heavy in combat vessels and low in cargo and support ships, say analysts.

"In my estimation, the Navy is putting way too much emphasis on improving strike and not enough on the logistics-on being able to sustain the fleet forward in an anti-access environment," says Robert Work, senior naval analyst for the Center for Strategic and

Budgetary Assessments. "We have more strike than we need, and we're pursuing ships that just do strike better, like DD(X) and CGX."

Throughout the Cold War, at no time did the United States ever have fewer than three Marine expeditionary brigades of amphibious lift as a requirement, says Work. Today, in a global situation that demands capabilities to move troops in a ground war against Al Qaeda in the Middle East and other potential conflicts, the military will need to bring in forces from the sea, he added.

The Navy plans to build a total of 88 surface combatants composed of 26 next-generation destroyers and cruisers and 62 Arleigh-Burke ships.

That number is just two ships short of what the service had wanted when it was looking at building a much larger fleet, says Work.

"We have the 600-ship Navy's worth of combatants plus another 55 littoral combat ships," says Work. "We're spending a lot on surface combatants. That's why the costs are going up so much in the shipbuilding budget," he added.

Before the DD(X) became the Navy's next generation surface combatant, it was intended to supersede the DD-21, a replacement for frigates.

"The DD(X)...