Trump Wants To Build Up The U.S. Navy To 1940s Levels

During his Monday meeting with military personnel at the U.S. Central Command, President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy is operating at its lowest level since the 1940s — but that will change under his administration.

The Department of the Navy’s 2017 budget presently accommodates a force of 287 ships, and to bring it back to its 1940s capacity, the Navy would need to double its force. The U.S. maintained 478 active vessels pre-war and peaked with 6,768 at the end of World War II.

The president's nostalgia for the 1940s military is good news for the nation’s largest defense ship contractors. General Dynamics Corporation GD and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc HII could soon earn significant contracts for large surface combatants and submarines, while Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT could score in its littoral combat ship division.

While the Navy has a budget of about $11 billion in ship operations alone, it also maintains an extensive inventory of planes — larger even than that of the U.S. Air Force — with air operations budgeted at $8 billion in 2017.

Expanding the Navy’s capacity, then, could also favorably impact Boeing Co BA and Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC, which could seek additional contracts in military aircraft.

Tides Are Changing

The president’s comments may call attention to the department’s diminished size and force, but the Navy has for years acknowledged its need for expansion.

In December, the department released a Force Structure Assessment requesting an additional 68 ships to be able to comply with the Pentagon’s strategic guidance. The wish list included one aircraft carrier, six amphibious warfare ships, eight submarines, 41 surface combatants, nine command and support ships, and three combat logistics ships.

The statement noted that the requested fleet of 355 is well below what the Navy desires but is instead the minimum capacity needed to meet demands.

“This is the level that balances an acceptable level of warfighting risk to our equipment and personnel against available resources and achieves a force size that can reasonably achieve success,” the report read.

To meet global needs with minimal risk, the Navy would need a fleet of 653 ships — a size that would double the Navy’s annual budget and better align with Trump's vision.