The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser Antietam pulls alongside the Navy's forward-deployed aircraft carrier, Ronald Reagan, in the Philippine Sea. (MC2 Kaila Peters/U.S. Navy)
Defense News: The US Navy is going to need a bigger boat, and it’s getting ready to buy one
WASHINGTON — The U.S. surface Navy is moving rapidly toward buying a new large surface ship that will replace the aging cruisers, a ship that Navy leaders and experts say will need to be spacious to accommodate future upgrades and weapon systems.
The office of the Chief of Naval Operations Director of Surface Warfare, or OPNAV N96, has convened a “large surface combatant requirements evaluation team” to figure out what the Navy’s next large ship will look like and what it will need to do. The goal, according to the N96 head Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, will be to buy the first cruiser replacement in 2023 or 2024.
The acquisition process should kick off formally next year once a capabilities development document is completed, but a few main factors are driving the size requirement, Boxall said.
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Update: US Navy Wants to Replace Cruisers With Big, Multirole Boats (Sputnik)
WNU Editor: I shudder to think on what will be the unit cost for each ship.
