The US Navy will number more than 300 ships by 2020 with 60 percent of them in the Pacific Ocean, US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said.
"We are building the fleet above 300 ships. We’ll get there by the end of the decade. We’re shifting at least 60 percent to the Pacific," he said during a MSNBC show answering the question on how the US will keep competitive with the Chinese Navy.
Mabus pointed out that in 2001 the US Navy comprised 316 vessels, but by 2008 the number had dropped to 278.
According to the secretary, from 2005 to 2009 the US put under contract 27 ships, and in the following five years – over 70 ships.
