DAVID SHARP and LOLITA BALDOR
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Navy is proposing construction cutbacks and accelerated ship retirements that would delay, or sink, the Navy's goal of a larger fleet — and potentially hurt shipyards, according to an initial proposal.
The proposal would shrink the size of the fleet from today's level of 293 ships to 287 ships, a far cry from the official goal of 355 ships established in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
According to a defense official familiar with the memo, budget negotiations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made. But the Navy is looking at a number of ways to cut costs to fund other priorities, the official said.
One of the proposed cuts would reduce the number of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers pl
