Does the US need to rebuild the Navy?

As long as we have pilots Like Pete Mitchell, were good.

The short answer is NO. Maintain? Sure. Rebuild? No.

Aircraft carriers as of 2021:
U.S. - 11
Everybody else - 10

Of the everybody else, 2 are China, 1 is Russia (which is barely seaworthy). The remaining 7 belong to either friendly countries (NATO - 6), or neutral at least (India - 1).

So NATO 17, Russia/China 3, India 1.

Now that the Russian army has been shown to be a paper bear, The Atlantic apparently needs to invent a new boogie man.

Probably not,. But China is susceptible to a naval blockade, and China is the new enemy, so..... here we go!

no.

Trapper Gus wrote:

Cameron wrote:The Navy is arguably more important than any other branch of our military, so it should be a top priority..

But I would like the DoD to pass an audit at some point.

The Open Seas are very important for everyone, however if China decides the seas are not open the US, or anyone else, will not be able to fix that

If China "decides" the seas are not open, then who is going to buy all their cheap shit? You think they're just gonna keep waltzing their container ships into the port of LA under such a scenario? Not only are open seas important to everyone, they're essential in a globally integrated economy. Even to China and Russia. Also, China doesn't have the Navy to "close" all the seas. Nobody does. China & Russia could fairly easily be shut out of the Atlantic entirely however. Without access to the Panama & Suez canals, or the straights out of the Black Sea, they're stuck sailing around the Capes or through the Artic for access to the Atlantic.

There are a boat load of Congressmen and US Senators who claim to be fiscal hawks who are amenable to building new naval vessels and opening millions on major overhauls of existing ships since it means Millions of Federal dollars pouring into their states and districts.

Trapper Gus wrote:

GRR Spartan wrote:There are a boat load of Congressmen and US Senators who claim to be fiscal hawks who are amenable to building new naval vessels and opening millions on major overhauls of existing ships since it means Millions of Federal dollars pouring into their states and districts.

The Pentagon's procurement offices have very effectively spread procurement employment across all the Congressional districts.

That means more districts feed at the DoD trough.  Expect more ships.  Might be smaller aircraft carriers with larger better equipped drones that resemble fighters flown with assisted AI.  

But money will flow.