MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier this year, reports emerged that China plans to grow its naval forces to 351 ships by 2020. The Russian Navy currently has 282 ships and is expected to receive 40 more in 2017.
"We are headed now to a fleet that’s about 310 ships, but if you look at the long-term forecast it’s clear that to get beyond that we’re going to have to start building. We’re going to have to build ships, and we’re going to have to look at extending the life of ships, and we’re going to have to look at – in just about every way we can — to increase our inventory of ships in the United States Navy," Richardson was quoted as saying by the Defense News media outlet.
According to Richardson, US Navy had to regain advantages over rapidly improving Chinese and Russian fleets and set a new goal of 355 ships.
As part of the election campaign US President Donald Trump promised to increase the number of ships in US Navy from 272 ships to 350.
