Amid worries about China’s growing navy, the US Navy is only asking for 4 new combat ships next year

• The US Navy’s fiscal year 2022 budget asks for just eight ships, only four of which are warships.
• The new combat ships the Navy wants are two submarines, one destroyer, and a frigate.
• The limited request comes amid growing concern within the military about the growing Chinese navy.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

The US Navy’s newest budget request is asking for just eight ships, only four of which are combat vessels.

The Department of the Navy’s fiscal year 2022 budget is $211.7 billion and focuses more on readiness than growing the fleet, even as the service calls attention to China’s rapidly growing naval force. Shipbuilding procurement funding is down $700 million.

“Though the US still maintains far more tonnage than China, China’s navy has more ships than the US Navy, and they are building ships at a much greater rate,” the Navy said in an overview of its budget request. China is expected to field its third aircraft carrier as early as 2023.

The budget document further states that China has an overall battle force of 350 ships and submarines, including 130 major surface combatants.

The US Navy, by the end of fiscal year 2022, is projected to have a battle force of 296 ships.

The Navy’s fiscal year 2022 request asks for two Block V Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, one Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and one Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, a new class of warfighting vessel.

The proposal also includes a request for four support ships, including one John Lewis-class fleet oiler; two Navajo-class towing, salvage, and rescue ships; and one new ocean-surveillance ship.

The service made “the hard choice” with respect to what it could afford, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget Rear Adm. John Gumbleton said Friday afternoon.

He explained that the “hard choice” was “that the Navy chose to invest the cost of a destroyer in a blended mix of readiness, modernization, and capability for the future.”

The latest request for eight vessels, down from a Trump administration plan that called for 12 vessels, is consistent with last year’s request, which received pushback from Congress. Last year’s budget was criticized because it only included six warships and two tug boats.

Not only is the Navy purchasing just a handful of new combat vessels in its latest budget request, but it also has plans to retire 15 vessels, including four littoral combat ships, two attack submarines, seven cruisers, one dock landing ship, and a tug.

The fiscal year 2022 request also shows a drop in aviation procurement funding from $19.5 billion to $16.5 billion, a reduction the Navy attributes to the end of procurement for the F/A-18 Super Hornets, P-8A Poseidons, VH-92A helicopters, and E-6B Mercury planes.

Altogether, the service is asking for just 107 aircraft, 37 less than last year. The proposal also says the Navy is cutting its planned procurement of weapons by $300 million, down to $4.2 billion.

Overall, procurement accounts have decreased by 5.7% as the Navy reallocates funds to operations and maintenance, military personnel, research and development, and infrastructure.

Some of these areas, maintenance in particular, have long been in desperate need of additional support and have been detriments to the readiness of the US naval force.