Navy, Marines Rethinking How to Build Future Fleet with Unmanned, Expeditionary Ships - USNI News...

Though the Navy had already advertised it was updating its desired fleet size and composition, after a 2016 effort pegged the future fleet at 355 ships, the service is now taking an even bigger step: working on an Integrated Naval Force Structure Assessment that also includes emerging unmanned and expeditionary platforms to support new concepts of warfare, according to a memo signed by the chief of naval operations and commandant of the Marine Corps.

The planned force structure assessment (FSA) would examine how many of today’s ships – today’s hull designs, with current or near-term capabilities – the Navy needs to meet operational requirements around the world. However, questions have been swirling for the last year or so about what unmanned surface vessels – into which the Navy is planning to invest significantly in the coming years – will mean for the future force size and composure, as well as what the Marines’ desire to leverage alternate platforms to get more people and gear afloat might mean.