NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - The Virginia shipyard that builds the Navy's aircraft carriers says it could save $1.5 billion by constructing three carriers at once.
Newport News Shipbuilding also says that would reduce construction time for each by up to two years.
The Virginian-Pilot reports the Navy's top admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, has called in a recently released paper for greatly expanding the fleet. The service has about 275 ships today. He says he wants to bring the fleet size to about 350 ships in the coming decade.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that bringing the Navy to 355 ships would cost $5 billion a year for 30 years. However, those figures don't include extending the lives of some ships, which the Navy leadership has proposed.
