Surface Combatants: Navy Faces Challenges Sustaining its Current Program

Surface combatants - cruisers, destroyers, and frigates - represent over one-third of the Navy's war-fighting fleet and a significant portion of the Navy's annual funding for new ships. This report discusses the Navy's basis for its current and planned surface combatant force, its plans to sustain the current force size into the next century, and the key factors that could affect future force requirements. We conducted this review under our basic legislative responsibilities and are addressing this report to you because we believe it will be useful to your committees in their deliberations on future naval force size and composition, particularly on decisions for the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, 21st Century Surface Combatant, and the Arsenal Ship. This report contains a recommendation that the Secretary of Defense provide Congress with specific information on the basis for the surface combatant force and on the Navy's plan for sustaining the force.