U.S. military shift to Asia will not result in bigger Navy.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Defense Insider - Brief article

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said a Navy presence in the Western Pacific will he critical in the coming years, but that a buildup of forces is not in the cards.

On any given day, 50 ships are deployed to the western Pacific and another 30 to the greater Indian Ocean to protect vital maritime portals like the Straits of Hormuz. Regardless of whether the Navy's fleet shrinks or grows from the current strength of 284 ships, the proportion steaming in those areas will remain constant, Greenert said.

"This fleet distribution will be similar in the future," he said. "Numbers matter. But regardless of size, this is where we put our forces."

That message ran counter to expectations by analysts that a sizeable increase to the Navy's fleet will be needed to back up the U.S. diplomatic posturing toward China.

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