| Summary/Abstract |
The Navy needs a practical platform—one that is economic and adaptable—to fulfill its missions. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Navy has faced few challenges to its core missions of projecting power ashore, forward presence, and sea control. A relatively benign threat environment and the legacy of the 1980s build-up allowed the Navy to effectively conduct a range of additional missions from traditional maritime interception and counter-piracy to supporting theater security cooperation efforts and providing humanitarian relief. Unfortunately, its ability to continue conducting these missions is being tested by two trends: the spiraling cost of new platforms and the return of credible threats.
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