WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The Navy plans to add ships to its fleet, bringing the total from 281 to 313 by 2020, the New York Times reports.
The newspaper cited a senior Navy official who said that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen's plan has not been formally approved.
The emphasis would be on smaller ships, including 55 new littoral combat ships, small fast vessels that operate in coastal waters. Some older ships would be retired, with the number of aircraft carriers reduced by one -- the 37-year-old John F. Kennedy -- and the number of attack submarines cut by two.
The Navy's strength peaked at 568 warships in 1987 as the Cold War came to an end.
"We are at a crisis in shipbuilding," the official said. "If we don't start building this up next year and the next year and the next year, we won't have the force we need."
