
The Chief of Naval Operations said the upcoming integrated Force Structure Assessment (FSA) will not count unmanned vessels in the battle force ship count and that the service needs a higher topline budget to increase the fleet size and maintain maritime overmatch. The final numbers for the 2020 FSA, planned to be released within a few weeks in line with the fiscal year 2021 budget request, will add unmanned vessels on top of around 355 ships, Adm. Mike Gilday said…