Admiral announces Navy plan to prepare fleet for possible fight with China in 3 years

WASHINGTON — Addressing ship maintenance delays, deploying more drones and improving recruiting are all part of the Navy’s plan to prepare the fleet within three years for a potential fight with China, the chief of naval operations announced Wednesday as part of a new initiative called “Project 33.”

“The chairman of the People’s Republic of China has told his forces to be ready for war by 2027 — and we will be more ready,” said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the naval service’s top officer.

Project 33 was incorporated into Navigation Plan 2024, Franchetti’s framework of priorities during her tenure as chief of naval operations. The plan identified seven focus areas that fall under Project 33, including eliminating ship maintenance delays, integrating more drones and autonomous systems into the force, and leveraging existing quality of service initiatives to recruit and retain sailors needed to man warships.

The 30-page plan, which Franchetti described as ambitious but necessary, aims to implement all seven priority areas by 2027.

“Project 33 sets new goals, but we don’t need new levers to achieve them. That’s the heart of my brief. We will deliver results using the tools and resources we have to gain advantage without losing speed,” she said.

The key is to have 80 percent of the force ready to deploy at any given time if needed for combat. The navy is structured so that one-third of the fleet is in maintenance, one-third in training and one-third ready to deploy. However, delays in maintenance can mean ships are not ready for combat.

“We must accelerate our efforts to deliver the ready force we need now. We must do this to deter potential adversaries and be ready when we are called upon,” Franchetti said.

Franchetti’s Project 33 is fueled by tensions and wars around the world. The plan notes that while Russia is “wounded and isolated” after its invasion of Ukraine, the country remains dangerous. And the nefarious networks between Iran and Russia amid relentless attacks on Middle Eastern commercial shipping make peace fragile.

“The pace of war is accelerating. What that means for our warfare ecosystem is something we are actively learning,” Franchetti said.

Drawing on lessons learned from fleet experiments and real-world events in the Black and Red Seas, Franchetti said the Navy must deliver a proven hybrid fleet by 2027 that includes robotics and drone capabilities.

The Ukrainian Navy has used a combination of missiles, automated surface ships, and agile digital solutions to deny the Russian fleet access to the western Black Sea and threaten Russia’s supply lines to occupying forces in Crimea.

For months, carrier strike groups and landing craft have been battling Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, who launch drone and missile attacks from Yemen, threatening commercial shipping.

“We have seen breakthroughs in battlefield innovation over the past two years that have profound implications for the changing nature of war. Cheaper, more accessible technology is enabling asymmetric capabilities, at lower costs, for both state and non-state actors,” Franchetti said.

In response, the Navy this year established a robotics warfare specialist rank, and the service is exploring how to develop robotics expertise in the officer ranks. The Navy has also moved from experimentation to integrating robotic and autonomous systems throughout the fleet, and the service’s special operations forces are pushing to test new systems to combat drones, according to Franchetti.

“As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. “CQ” Brown, says, ‘accelerate change or lose,’ and we have no intention of losing,” she said.

The Navy is also working to recruit 95 percent of all active and reserve enlisted personnel and deploying units. In line with this effort, the service aims to meet 100 percent of its enlistment goals and complete its Delayed Commissioning Program by 50 percent.

The initiative is already gaining traction. Navy Recruiting Command said in August it was on track to add 40,000 sailors to the force and meet its 2024 recruiting goal after years of shortages that forced the service to empty its pool of delayed-entry soldiers.

The service is also working to eliminate forced homesteading on ships and ensure that no first-year sailor is forced to spend more than two years on a ship undergoing an extended modernization period. Giving sailors an escape from long yard tours supports quality-of-life initiatives that have been launched in recent years after a number of suicides of sailors across the country.

“Given the competitive recruiting environment we face, we cannot afford to have a single sailor leave our Navy because we did not provide adequate care,” Franchetti said.

In addition to Project 33, Navigation Plan 2024 builds on a previous plan from 2022 to push Congress to continue investing in the industrial base and modernizing capabilities. The Navy has tried to balance its budget by getting rid of older ships to invest in new, more capable ships — something lawmakers have questioned because China already has more warships than the United States.

Timely retirement of ships and working with Congress to obtain the necessary resources to support the fleet are critical to ensuring the Navy is able to respond to conflicts and crises and achieve decisive victory in war.

“It will be hard work, but if we do it, we will deliver a Navy that is ready today and prepared to gain an overwhelming advantage tomorrow,” Franchetti said.