US Navy Needs More Ships

US Navy defends vital sea lanes.

Navy Needs More Ships to Protect Sea Lanes, Retired PACOM Admiral Says

By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy is too small for the job expected of it, according to a retired Navy admiral and a defense analyst.

Speaking in a July 28 teleconference sponsored by the Navy League’s “America’s Strength” campaign, retired ADM Timothy J. Keating, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), and Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute, said the Navy is over-extended and needs more ships to meet presence requirements and protect the vital sea lanes through which most of the world’s commerce flows.

“The vast majority of U.S. imports are moved by seaborne commerce,” Eaglen said, noting that the goods shipped from outlets such as Amazon and Wal-Mart arrive via ship before they are distributed to consumers, and that it is the U.S Navy’s defense of the sea lanes that allows the goods to show up on time, and with price competition that benefits the U.S. consumer.”

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: seapowermagazine.org