Navy Releases Shipbuilding Plan Nearly Identical to Draft Circulated Before Leadership Change

The acting Navy secretary released the administration's fiscal year 2027 shipbuilding plan last month. The published document matches most of a draft circulated by the prior secretary's office one day before the leadership transition. The draft, dated April 21 and reviewed by Semafor, contains large sections of text copied verbatim or near-verbatim into the final plan.

Both versions include the same language on requirements discipline and the same numerical targets for the 30-year shipbuilding agenda.

Both documents state that the Navy is transforming its warfighting requirements and implementing processes to prioritize speed to capability. They also contain identical passages on the need for clear, stable requirements from industry and on the challenges posed by structural expense growth.

The final plan maintains the same five-year targets of 122 manned ships and 63 unmanned platforms that appeared in the earlier draft. It also repeats the same descriptions of the proposed Golden Fleet concept and the same acquisition strategies.

Background The Navy has struggled in recent years to meet shipbuilding schedules and budgets. The release of the plan followed months of internal work and came shortly after the leadership change at the department. A Navy spokesperson referred questions to the published plan. The former secretary declined to comment.