Amphibious warships are at the center of a new push by Navy and Marine Corps leaders, who say a fleet of 40 is required to keep three Marine Expeditionary Units deployed at all times, up from the current inventory of 31 vessels set by law.
Marine Expeditionary Units, typically about 2,200 Marines, embark on Amphibious Ready Groups composed of an amphibious assault ship and two amphibious transport dock or dock landing ships. Additional support ships, surface combatants and sometimes a fast attack submarine can round out a larger Expeditionary Strike Group.
Shon Brodie, director of Maritime Expeditionary Warfare at the Marine Corps’ Combat Development and Integration Directorate, said Commandant Gen. Eric Smith has made sustaining a constant 3.0 ARG/MEU presence his top priority. Smith wants one MEU forward from the East Coast, one from the West Coast and one in Japan on a persistent basis, according to Brodie.
To determine the capacity needed, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James W. Kilby and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Bradford J. Gering coordinated analyses across both services. Brodie said those assessments concluded the requirement is 40 ships, specifically 13 large-deck assault ships and 27 amphibious transport docks.
The large-deck ships are the Navy’s Wasp class (LHD) and America class (LHA). Their aviation components can include F-35B jets, MV-22 tiltrotors, UH-1, AH-1 and CH-53 helicopters, as well as Navy Seahawks. Amphibious transport docks also embark MV-22s and helicopters.
MEU capabilities have expanded in recent years. With MV-22s and increasing deployments of F-35Bs, including in “Lightning carrier” configurations, MEUs can in limited circumstances perform missions that once required a carrier strike group.
Brodie said the requirement was finalized in recent months through the new Amphibious Force Readiness Board, a joint Navy-Marine Corps body created to better monitor the fleet’s health. He noted the Navy currently counts 31 amphibious warfare ships and identified additional large-deck assault ships as the most pressing shortfall.
Although statute calls for 10 large-deck assault ships, the Navy has nine due to the loss of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), which was scrapped in 2021 after a 2020 fire. The Marine Corps now wants to increase the mandate to 13 large decks. “When I have a problem generating this force, it really revolves around the big deck,” Brodie said.
The new 40-ship target, including 13 large decks, departs from former Commandant Gen. David Berger’s 2019 guidance underpinning Force Design 2030, which emphasized smaller vessels and fewer big-deck amphibs in light of growing anti-ship missile threats and the proliferation of one-way attack drones. Berger’s concept focused on smaller, dispersed stand-in forces operating within an adversary’s weapons engagement zone, reflecting a shift away from large-scale amphibious assaults.
Reaching 40 ships will require time and investment. “You can’t get there tomorrow,” Brodie said, adding that the practical path involves building new hulls and extending the service lives of selected ships now in the inventory. He said Kilby and Gering plan to brief lawmakers later this month on the requirement. The Marine Corps said there is no fixed timeline to achieve the goal.
Lt. Col. Eric D. Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said funding decisions will rest with Congress. He pointed to a multi-ship procurement awarded in 2024, when HII received a $9.6 billion contract covering three San Antonio class amphibious ships and a modification for the next America class large-deck amphib. HII said the combined buy initiates construction of LPDs 33, 34 and 35 and LHA 10.
Amphibious warships and the budget outlook
The request for more amphibious warships faces political and fiscal headwinds following Democratic wins in both chambers of Congress. While the administration is pursuing roughly $1.5 trillion in defense funding for Fiscal Year 2027, including about $350 billion outside regular streams via reconciliation, a letter from Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, who is in line to chair the House Armed Services Committee, signaled tighter scrutiny of programs and overall defense spending.
“We must thoroughly review our national defense strategy and develop a more realistic and sustainable approach that does not require a defense budget in excess of $1 trillion or paid for through draconian cuts to critical domestic programs,” Smith wrote in a message to colleagues.
The Navy is also grappling with broader fleet pressures, including disrupted plans for new frigates and larger uncrewed surface vessels and rising costs tied to Arleigh Burke class destroyers. Operations in the Middle East have added unplanned expenses. In August, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle estimated that operations related to the fight against Iran would require an additional 6 to 8 billion dollars beyond the Fiscal Year 2026 budget to keep the service whole.
Pentagon figures cited last month indicated total U.S. military spending on the war in Iran had surpassed 47 billion dollars, more than 25 percent above a prior estimate. Those figures followed earlier warnings from administration officials who had already dismissed talk of a nuclear strike on Iran as destabilizing and counterproductive, as covered in White House dismisses talk of a nuclear strike on Iran.
Availability remains a persistent challenge. As of April, the amphibious fleet’s combat surge readiness stood at 47 percent, per Kilby’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget statement. Chronic maintenance delays, competing priorities, premature retirement moves without required approvals, limited spare parts and contractor oversight issues have all contributed.
Brodie said the Navy and Marine Corps are working to improve scheduling and maintenance execution to meet the commandant’s presence requirement. Early indicators suggest maintenance days can be reduced and force generation improved, he said, though he declined to provide specific figures.
Extended deployments complicate the effort, Brodie added. When ships miss scheduled maintenance due to prolonged cruises, backlogs grow at already strained shipyards, turning days at sea into weeks in the yard.
With limited facilities capable of handling carriers and large-deck amphibs, delays can cascade across multiple vessels. Public updates on the broader naval shipbuilding and maintenance effort are periodically provided by the U.S. Navy and by the Pentagon.
Whether the services can build to 40 amphibious ships will be decided over future budget cycles. Leaders argue the requirement is clear, but acknowledge competing demands and finite resources will shape the outcome.