The US Navy has been pivoting from a Cold War alignment toward a more modern, flexible fleet as the focus shifts to the southwest Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans.
The proposed 2026 Defense Department budget calls for 19 new US Navy battle force ships, reinforcing the Navy’s recent emphasis on countering rising threats in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The budget allocates $47.3 billion for the new ships, which would add to the Navy’s agility and flexibility if approved. The 19-ship order is a notable increase over last year’s 5 ships, though the fleet’s overall size will shrink from 296 ships to 287 as older ships are decommissioned.
The record $1.01 trillion budget request represents a 13.4 percent increase from 2025. The Pentagon characterizes it as supporting four primary objectives: strengthening homeland defense, deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, revitalizing the American defense industrial base, and ensuring long-term fiscal accountability.
American shipbuilding capacity has declined significantly since World War II, with critics questioning whether it could accommodate a national emergency. The Trump administration has echoed those concerns, and appears to be addressing them.
America’s Strategic Shift Toward Domestic Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding capacity is a strategic capability for a nation charged with maintaining global sea lanes and trade routes. The US Navy has been the only force capable of such a mission since 1945. However, China has invested heavily in building a blue-water fleet to challenge that supremacy; today, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) includes some 730 ships—though that number can be misleading, since around 300 of these are classified as coastal defense ships, while dozens more are obsolescent craft that carry reserve status.
The US Navy has been pivoting from a Cold War alignment toward a more modern, flexible fleet with more amphibious capability as the focus shifts to the southwest Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. This shift is coupled with the US Marine Corps’ return to its maritime roots after decades of being a “second Army.” The proposed new ships in the Navy’s FY2026 budget emphasize the new focus on agility:
- One Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine
- Two Virginia-class attack submarines
- Two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers
- One America-class amphibious assault ship
- One San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock
- Nine Landing Ships, Medium
- Two John Lewis-class fleet oilers
- One T-AGOS ocean surveillance vessel
America’s amphibious capability has waned since its heyday, and this proposal obviously begins to address that deficit, as does the Marine Corps’ return to their “Advanced Base Doctrine” in the Pacific, the initial iteration of which led to the amphibious juggernaut of World War II.
Can the US Navy Control Both the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific?
The Navy maintains a significant presence in the Middle East, with the US 5th Fleet headquartered in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. This reflects the region’s global importance as a source of oil, as well as its inherent instability. The 5th Fleet’s placement aligns with the Navy’s mission of protecting global sea trade routes, and its area of responsibility encompasses the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, and the western Indian ocean, along with the Persian Gulf.
It also includes three strategic choke points in the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb at the Red Sea’s southern entrance. Instability around these choke points threatens global trade as rogue elements like Iran and its proxies try to disrupt commercial traffic, as the Houthis have done in the Red Sea. Dealing with these asymmetrical threats requires a flexible and agile navy—exemplified by the Arleigh Burke destroyers, the fleet oilers, and the amphibious ships.
Navies are the primary instruments for power projection—a fact that has been true since the Minoans dominated the eastern Mediterranean over 3,500 years ago. But missions are ever-changing. The need to protect large merchant convoys crossing the Atlantic has declined, for now. The emerging naval threat is once again in the Pacific, though Russia’s continued aggression requires a significant Atlantic and Arctic capability as well.
The Navy and Marine Corps are shifting to meet these evolving strategic and operational challenges. This proposed naval allocation suggests that the current administration is taking the threat seriously.
About the Author: William Lawson
William Lawson is a military historian focusing on World War II and 20th century conflicts and the American Civil War. His specialty is operational level warfare, especially American amphibious doctrine. He writes on history, politics, and firearms for multiple publications and historical journals. He serves on the editorial advisory board for the Saber & Scroll Journal and Military History Chronicles and is a member of the Society for Military History and the American Historical Association. Lawson is based in Virginia.
Image: Shutterstock / Kate Scott.
