NAVY TIMES: Navy needs clear maritime strategy to expand fleet: Navy vet lawmaker

The Navy needs a clear maritime strategy where everyone — from the White House to Pentagon leaders on down — are all on board, according to former naval officer Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia.

Absence of such strategy is limiting the Navy from reaching a fleet of 355 ships, the official target established in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Luria said Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Navy’s Legislative Awards ceremony.

“I just cannot beat the drum enough that we need to continue to grow the fleet… The truth is, we really need to frame the reasons behind why we need this fleet,” said Luria, who was a recipient of AUSN’s 2021 National Legislative Advocacy Award, along with Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Luria, a Democrat and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, noted that although she didn’t agree with everything in the Trump administration’s Battle Force 2045 proposal, the plan understood that the U.S. needs a large Navy and called for a fleet of more than 500 ships by 2045.

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