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1 [1] (November 20, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goverio0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Defense Primer: Naval Forces Naval FOrces Refers to Both the Navy (U and Marine Corps co Although the term navalforces is often used to refer specifically to Navy forces, it more properly refers to both T Navy and Marine Corps forces, because both the Navy and w Marine Corps are naval services. For further discussion, see w CRS In Focus IF10484, Defense Primer: Department of the in Navy, by Ronald O'Rourke. For a discussion of the Marine gr Corps that focuses on its organization as a ground-combat force, see CRS In Focus IF10571, Defense Primer: Organization of U.S. Ground Forces, by Barbara Salazar T Torreon and Andrew Feickert. m U.S. Strategy and Nava Forces of U.S. naval forces give the United States the ability to co convert the world's oceans-a global commons that covers ca more than two-thirds of the planet's surface-into a medium of maneuver and operations for projecting U.S. T power ashore and otherwise defending U.S. interests around fo the world. The ability to use the world's oceans in this w manner-and to deny other countries the use of the world's n oceans for taking actions against U.S. interests-constitutes co an immense asymmetric advantage for the United States. be As discussed elsewhere (see CRS In Focus IF10485, w Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force T Design, by Ronald O'Rourke), the size and composition of da U.S. naval forces reflect the position of the United States as pr a Western Hemisphere power with a goal of preventing the re emergence of regional hegemons (and otherwise defending Si and promoting U.S. interests) in Eurasia. As a result, the co U.S. Navy includes significant numbers of aircraft carriers, ol nuclear-powered attack submarines, large surface h combatants, large amphibious ships, and underway to replenishment ships. pr Navy Ship Types The Navy's ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) are dedicated to performing a singular mission of strategic nuclear deterrence. The Navy's other ships, which are T sometimes referred to as the Navy's general-purpose ships, co are generally multimission ships capable of performing a in variety of missions other than strategic nuclear deterrence. (F The principal types of general-purpose ships in the Navy of include attack submarines (SSNs); aircraft carriers (CVNs); large surface combatants, meaning cruisers to (CGs) and destroyers (DDGs); small surface combatants, meaning frigates (FFGs), Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), In mine warfare (MIW) ships, and patrol craft (PCs); th amphibious ships, whose primary function is to transport of Marines and their equipment and supplies to distant U. operating areas and support Marine ship-to-shore movements and Marine operations ashore; combat logistics D force (CLF) ships, which perform underway replenishment a Updated November 20, 2024 UNREP) operations, meaning the at-sea resupply of mbat ships; and other support ships of various types. he Navy's aircraft carriers embark multimission carrier air ings (CVWs) consisting of 60+ aircraft-mostly fixed- ing aircraft, plus a few helicopters. Each CVW typically cludes 40 or more strike fighters that are capable of air-to- ound (strike) and air-to-air (fighter) combat operations. ZE of the Navy he total number of ships in the Navy is a one-dimensional etric that leaves out many other important factors bearing on the Navy's size and capabilities. Even so, observers ten cite the total number of ships in the U.S. Navy as a nvenient way of summarizing the Navy's size and pabilities. he quoted number of ships in the Navy reflects the battle rce ships counting method, which is a set of rules for hich ships count (or do not count) toward the quoted umber of ships in the Navy. The battle force ships unting method was established in the early 1980s and has en modified by subsequent legislation. Essentially, it includes ships that are readily deployable overseas, and hich contribute to the Navy's overseas combat capability. he Naval History and Heritage Command maintains a tabase on numbers of ships in the Navy from 1886 to the esent. (It is available here: https://www.history.navy.mil/ search/histories/ship-histories/us-ship-force-levels.html.) nce this database extends back to 1886, it uses a different unting method that is more suitable for working with lder historical data. This alternate counting method, owever, produces, for the 1980s onwards, figures for the tal size of the Navy that are different than the figures oduced by the battle force ships counting method. For this reason, using figures from the NHHC database to quote the rrent size of the Navy can cause confusion. lavy Force-Level Goal he Navy determines its force-level goal-the size and mposition of the fleet it would like to reach and maintain coming years-through a Force Structure Analysis SA). FSAs are conducted every few years. For each type ship, the FSA calculates the number required for arfighting, and the number required for maintaining day- -day forward-deployed presence overseas. December 2016, the Navy released a force-structure goal at calls for achieving and maintaining a fleet of 355 ships certain types and numbers. The 355-ship goal was made S. policy by Section 1025 of the FY2018 National efense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810/P.L. 115-91 of ecember 12, 2017). The provision, which was codified as note to 10 U.S.C. 8661, has no enforcement mechanism. The 355-ship goal predates the Trump and Biden

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