Carter Orders Navy to Build Fewer Ships, Spend More on Jets
- Defense chief also demands more spending on electronic warfare
- A 308-ship goal `should be met but not irresponsibly exceeded'
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Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered U.S. Navy leaders to buy fewer ships so the service can spend more on jets such as the F-35 as well as munitions and upgraded systems for electronic warfare.
“For the last several years, the Department of the Navy has overemphasized resources used to incrementally increase total ship numbers at the expense of critically needed investments in areas where our adversaries are not standing still, such as strike, ship survivability, electronic warfare and other capabilities,” Carter wrote obtained by Bloomberg News that’s rare in its blunt rejection of a military service’s approach.