Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress

The current and future size and composition of the Navy, the annual rate of Navy ship procurement, the prospective affordability of the Navy’s shipbuilding plans, the capacity of the U.S. shipbuilding industry to execute the Navy’s shipbuilding plans, and Navy proposals for retiring existing ships have been oversight matters for the congressional defense committees for many years. Congressional focus on these matters has been heightened over the past decade by the increasing size and capabilities of China’s navy, and by the capacity of China’s shipbuilding industry compared with the capacity of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. The Navy fell below 300 battle force ships (the types of ships that count toward the quoted size of the Navy) in August 2003 and has generally remained between 270 and 300 battle force ships since then. As of October 1, 2025, the Navy included 293 battle force ships. In December 2016, the Navy released a ship force-level goal that called for achieving and maintaining a fleet of 355 ships of certain types and numbers. The 355-ship goal was made U.S. policy by Section 1025 of the FY2018 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810/P.L. 115-91 of December 12, 2017). In June 2023, the Navy sent a successor ship force-level goal to the congressional defense committees. In March 2024, the Navy released the details of this goal, which calls for achieving and maintaining a fleet of 381 manned ships of certain types and numbers, plus 134 large unmanned surface and underwater vehicles. The 381-ship goal of 2023 is to be succeeded by a forthcoming ship force-level goal referred to as the Golden Fleet force-level goal. Aside from numbers of battleships and frigates, the Navy as of January 16, 2026, has not released the details of the Golden Fleet force-level goal. The Navy’s requested FY2026 shipbuilding program requests the procurement of 19 new ships, of which 16 ships would be funded with funds from the FY2025 reconciliation act (H.R. 1/P.L. 119-21) of July 4, 2025, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and 3 ships would be funded with funds requested for FY2026 (i.e., “new money” requested for FY2026). The Navy’s FY2026 budget submission includes a total of about $47.4 billion for the Navy’s Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) appropriation account (i.e., the Navy’s shipbuilding budget). The total of about $47.4 billion includes about $26.5 billion from the FY2025 reconciliation act (about 56% of the $47.4 billion) and about $20.8 billion in “new money” requested for FY2026 (about 44% of the $47.4 billion). The total of about $47.4 billion is substantially higher than the total FY2025 figure for the SCN account of about $39.0 billion. The $20.8 billion in “new money” requested for FY2026 is substantially lower than the total FY2025 figure for the SCN account of about $39.0 billion. Issues for Congress regarding Navy force structure and shipbuilding plans include the following: the Golden Fleet ship force-level goal, including the details of the goal, the Trump Administration’s position on the goal, and the appropriateness of the goal for performing projected future Navy missions; the estimated cost of the Navy’s forthcoming FY2027 30-year (FY2027-FY2056) shipbuilding plan; and Navy shipbuilding delays and industrial base capacity constraints, and options for addressing those constraints.