The idea behind the 600-ship Navy can be traced back to the Vietnam War. During the war, the armed services rapidly expanded to meet the demands placed on them.
The Soviet Union, which had been supporting North Vietnam, began staging their naval vessels from former U.S. ports in South Vietnam. Building on this gain, Soviet vessels began to sail in all seven seas with increased vigor and even ventured into the Gulf of Mexico.[5] Soviet forces also stepped up infantry, armor, and air force deployments in Eastern Europe.
Reagan plan
It was against this backdrop in 1980 that the United States began an election year. President Reagan continued this in 1984, releasing a campaign commercial "Bear," which played on the use of the bear as a national symbol of Russia in order to promote higher vigilance and defense expenditures against the Soviet Union.
The overseas strategic retaliation arm was strengthened and the development of new weaponry like the B-1B bomber, the Bradley fighting vehicle, and the Abrams tank was completed and they were put into production.
Lehman attempted to "front-load" the program, by committing the Navy to the building program, but in the end the funds were not available and it fell short.[6][7]
Ships and weapons systems deployed during the plan
The Navy saw the largest benefit of the rebuilding.[8][9] Under the Reagan administration, the first of the Ohio-classballistic missile submarines were completed. This class was the largest submarine ever built in the U.S. The ship carried 24 Trident I nuclear-capable missiles, each one with a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) range. Construction of the Nimitz class of supercarriers and Los Angeles-classattack submarines were dramatically stepped up. The revolutionary new Aegis Combat System was installed on the upcoming Ticonderoga-class ships, production of which was also stepped up. Several aircraft carriers were put through Service Life Extension Programs (SLEPs) aimed at keeping them in service longer. The Iowa-class battleships, built in the 1940s, were all recommissioned and refitted with RGM-84 Harpoon, BGM-109 Tomahawk, and Phalanx CIWS system capabilities, plus their armor plating would be more resilient against anti-ship missiles. The first Harpoons, Tomahawks, and AGM-88 HARM missiles all debuted on the navy's ships. Naval aviation was stepped up with the introduction of the F/A-18 Hornet, along with improved versions of the EA-6 Prowler electronic countermeasure aircraft, the A-6 Intruder, and the F-14 Tomcat. In addition, the nation's strategic retaliatory arm was strengthened with advanced B-1B bombers and deploying Pershing IItheater missiles to Europe. The initiative also included deployment of Abrams main battle tanks and Bradley armored fighting vehicles. U.S. Navy unclassified miscellaneous ships, auxiliary ships, and yard ships are not included in the ship count.
Eventually political pressure to reduce the national budget deficit resulted in Congress reversing itself and passing a series of declining defense budgets beginning in 1986.[10][11][7] Weinberger clashed with Congress over the cuts, resigning in late 1987, and was succeeded by Frank Carlucci.[12] Furthermore, concerns were raised about how the expansion of the Navy would reduce attention and resources needed in other scenarios where the Soviets also had to be confronted such as Europe.[13]
Lehman's successor as Navy Secretary, Jim Webb, remained a fierce proponent of the expanded fleet, and disagreed with Carlucci over how to cut the Navy budget in line with other services. Webb resigned rather than endorse Carlucci's cut of 16 frigates.[14] As revealed in The Reagan Diaries, Reagan reflected about Webb's resignation on 22 February 1988: "Present Sec. Webb resigned over budget cuts. I don't think Navy was sorry to see him go."[15][16]
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the lack of a perceived threat against the United States, several of the Reagan Administration's policies and plans, such as the "600-ship Navy", were scaled back or abandoned.[2] U.S. bases across Europe and North America were slowly decommissioned and closed, others were mothballed through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.[6] In the Navy, this resulted in the retirement of several older carriers, the decommissioning of all four of the Iowa-class battleships and the cancellation of the remaining Seawolf-class submarines.
^Marcus, Alan J. (1 December 1985). Manning the 600-ship Navy(PDF). Naval Planning, Manpower and Logistics Division (Center for Naval Analyses) (Research memorandum). Alexandria, Virginia, United States: Office of Naval Research (Department of the Navy). CRM 85-111.10. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 11, 2022 – via Defense Technical Information Center.
John B. Hattendorf. "The Evolution of the U.S. Navy's Maritime Strategy, 1977–1986" Naval War College Newport Paper 19 (2004), ISBN 1-884733-32-8. Available in PDF format here and here
