United States Navy

===21st century===
[[File:US Navy 100913-N-4973M-012 Lt. j.g. Craig Mueller, from St. Louis, Mo., and Lt. j.g. Zach Decker, from Boulder, Co., monitor the defense systems ab.jpg|thumb|U.S. Navy officers aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72|6}} monitor defense systems during early 2010s [[maritime security operations]] exercises.]]

The U.S. Navy continues to be a major support to U.S. interests in the 21st century. Since the end of the Cold War, it has shifted its focus from preparations for large-scale war with the Soviet Union to special operations and strike missions in regional conflicts.<ref name="forward">{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/policy/fromsea/ffseanoc.html |title=Forward&nbsp;... From the Sea |website=[[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] |date=March 1997 |access-date=25 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121232752/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/policy/fromsea/ffseanoc.html |archive-date=21 November 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> The navy participated in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Operation Enduring Freedom]], [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]], and is a major participant in the ongoing [[War on Terror]], largely in this capacity. Development continues on new ships and weapons, including the {{sclass|Gerald R. Ford|aircraft carrier|2}} and the [[Littoral combat ship]]. Because of its size, weapons technology, and ability to project force far from U.S. shores, the current U.S. Navy remains an asset for the United States. Moreover, it is the principal means through which the U.S. maintains international global order, namely by safeguarding global trade and protecting allied nations.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Farley|first1=Robert|title=A US Navy With 350 Ships... But What For?|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/a-us-navy-with-350-ships-but-what-for/|website=thediplomat.com|publisher=The Diplomat|access-date=22 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122153526/https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/a-us-navy-with-350-ships-but-what-for/|archive-date=22 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2007, the U.S. Navy joined with the [[U.S. Marine Corps]] and U.S. Coast Guard to adopt a new maritime strategy called [[A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower]] that raises the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war. The strategy was presented by the [[Chief of Naval Operations]], the [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]], and [[Commandant of the Coast Guard]] at the International Sea Power Symposium in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] on 17 October 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32655 |title=Sea Services Unveil New Maritime Strategy |work=Navy News Service |date=17 October 2007 |first=Jim |last=Garamone |id=NNS071017-13 |agency=[[American Forces Press Service]] |access-date=27 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305040311/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=32655 |archive-date=5 March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The strategy recognized the economic links of the global system and how any disruption due to regional crises (man-made or natural) can adversely impact the U.S. economy and quality of life. This new strategy charts a course for the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent these crises from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to prevent negative impacts on the U.S.

In 2010, Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, noted that demands on the Navy have grown as the fleet has shrunk and that in the face of declining budgets in the future, the U.S. Navy must rely even more on international partnerships.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/06/navy_cno_at_mast_062210w/ |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120908023524/http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/06/navy_cno_at_mast_062210w/ |archive-date=8 September 2012 |title=CNO: Global challenges need global responses |work=[[Navy Times]] |date=22 June 2010 |first=Lance M. |last=Bacon}}</ref>

In its 2013 budget request, the navy focused on retaining all eleven big deck carriers, at the expense of cutting numbers of smaller ships and delaying the SSBN replacement.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://aviationweek.com/awin/pentagon-saves-carrier-other-programs-expense |title=Pentagon Saves Carrier At Other Programs' Expense |date=27 January 2012|last =Fabey|first = Michael|work = Aviation Week}}</ref> By the next year the USN found itself unable to maintain eleven aircraft carriers in the face of the expiration of budget relief offered by the [[Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013]] and CNO [[Jonathan Greenert]] said that a ten ship carrier fleet would not be able to sustainably support military requirements.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stripes.com/navy-s-top-admiral-reducing-carrier-fleet-would-burn-out-sailors-ships-1.284362 |title=Navy's top admiral: Reducing carrier fleet would burn out sailors, ships |last1=Harper |first1=Jon |date=22 May 2014 |website=www.stripes.com |publisher=Stars and Stripes |access-date=22 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522160237/http://www.stripes.com/navy-s-top-admiral-reducing-carrier-fleet-would-burn-out-sailors-ships-1.284362 |archive-date=22 May 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The British [[First Sea Lord]] [[George Zambellas]] said that<ref name="thediplomat1">{{cite web|last1=Stashwick|first1=Steven|title=Road to 350: What Does the US Navy Do Anyway?|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/road-to-350-what-does-the-us-navy-do-anyway/|website=thediplomat.com|publisher=The Diplomat|access-date=22 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122153836/https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/road-to-350-what-does-the-us-navy-do-anyway/|archive-date=22 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> the USN had switched from "outcome-led to resource-led" planning.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://aviationweek.com/defense/opinion-scotland-missile-defense-and-subs |title=Scotland, Missile Defense And Subs |last1=Sweetman |first1=Bill |date=11 August 2014 |website=aviationweek.com |publisher=Penton |access-date=11 August 2014 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525032347/http://aviationweek.com/defense/opinion-britains-view-naval-strategy |archive-date=25 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

One significant change in U.S. policymaking that is having a major effect on naval planning is the [[East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration|Pivot to East Asia]]. In response, the [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Ray Mabus]] stated in 2015 that 60 percent of the total U.S. fleet will be deployed to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] by 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/03/us-navy-secretary-we-will-have-over-300-ships-by-2020/|title=US Navy Secretary: We will Have Over 300 Ships by 2020|author=Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat|work=The Diplomat|access-date=12 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023185658/https://thediplomat.com/2015/03/us-navy-secretary-we-will-have-over-300-ships-by-2020/|archive-date=23 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Navy's most recent 30-year shipbuilding plan, published in 2016, calls for a future fleet of 350 ships to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive international environment.<ref name="thediplomat1"/> A provision of the 2018 [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018|National Defense Authorization Act]] called for expanding the naval fleet to 355 ships "as soon as practicable", but did not establish additional funding nor a timeline.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Larter |first1=David B. |title=Trump just made a 355-ship Navy national policy |url=https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2017/12/14/trump-just-made-355-ships-national-policy/ |website=www.defensenews.com |publisher=Defense News |access-date=2 November 2018|date=14 December 2017}}</ref>