The U.S. Navy’s Strategic Focus and Modernization Priorities: The Foundry, the Fleet, the Fight​

Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

External Source: AirPress

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The United States Navy is committed to maintaining its role as the most dominant maritime force through a comprehensive approach centered on readiness, innovation, and warfighting excellence, all in collaboration with allies and partners. Admiral Daryl Caudle assumed the mantle of leadership as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on 25 August 2025.  We served together in Naples, Italy, when he served as Commander, Submarine Group Eight, Deputy Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet, and Director of Maritime Operations (N3), while I was Commander of the Sixth Fleet.  I can personally attest to his professionalism and stellar performance as a flag officer under my command.  There is no finer officer than Admiral Caudle to lead the United States Navy at this critical time of transition.  On his first day as CNO, he articulated a clear vision with a new mantra:  “A Navy built in the Foundry, tempered in the Fleet, and forged to Fight.” This motto underscores the importance of developing robust, resilient, and adaptive naval forces equipped to meet current and future challenges. Let me break this down in the following paragraphs:

The Foundry:  The Foundry is the very foundation of the Navy’s current and future fleet prioritizing modernization of existing platforms as well as the development of new ships, submarines, aircraft, and kinetic or non-kinetic weapons. This stage involves design, construction, and technological innovation to produce platforms that are more capable, resilient, and adaptable. This is an enormous undertaking for the Navy and the nation that has allowed its maritime industrial base to atrophy from 55 shipyards in the continental United States at the end of World War II, to 19 shipyards during the era of President Ronald Reagan and the 600-ship Navy, to just 7 principal shipyards today.

For this reason, the United States has encouraged foreign investment in the U.S. maritime industrial base.  Fincantieri purchased Marinette Marine Shipyard in 2009 and formed Fincatieri Marinette Marine (FMM) which was the primary shipyard producing for the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship program now in the end of production phase. Meanwhile, FMM was awarded the contract for the Constellation-class frigate based on the Italian FREMM design.  I can attest to the value that the FREMM brings to NATO having been aboard the FREMM during my time in Europe and the United States.  In fact, FREMM-class frigates have trained and deployed with U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Groups.

Tempered in the Fleet: Once built, these platforms are integrated into the fleet where they are operationally tested, refined, and made ready for combat deployment. Real-world experience in the fleet ensures these systems are reliable and effective under authentic conditions.  There is no substitute for a realistic training environment and Admiral Caudle will be faced with the challenge of doing just that with a competition for resources that dilute maintenance and readiness, training, recapitalization of the existing fleet, and recruiting and retaining the best possible sailors.  Admiral Caudle realized this when he served as the Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and optimized “Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC)” training during Large Scale Exercises (LSE) 2023 and 2025.  As a Senior Role Player and Mentor for both exercises, I shared my observations as follows:

As in the previous two iterations of the exercise, LSE 25 relied on the use of Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) training to enhance the quality of the training and increase the number of personnel in the exercise audience. LVC technology brought in more players around the globe virtually. Accordingly, it was not required that every participating unit put to sea for the conduct of the exercise. In this way, the Navy was able to include three aircraft carrier strike group staffs in the exercise for the price of one underway.

The United States Navy has been the champion of cost-effective LVC training since 2021and I predict that the trend will proliferate throughout the remainder of the Joint Force during the remainder of this administration.

Forged to Fight: Ultimately, the goal here is to produce a fighting force that can be deployed confidently in combat, leveraging technical superiority and reliability, robust pre-deployment training, and Sailor expertise and experience in taking the fight to the adversary. The process emphasizes readiness, resilience, and the superiority of people, platforms, and munitions.  Forged to fight enables the capacity for rapid, effective engagement in any conflict scenario—today, tomorrow, and well into the future, while assuring the outcome in order to win decisively.

There is no better example of this than the previous two years of combat operations led by the United States Navy during Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea against a relentless and unprovoked Houthi aggression against commercial shipping.  The fight has been conducted predominantly by the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers (DDG) employing a variety of offensive and defensive weapons against the Houthis under the umbrella of the Aegis combat system.  While the performance of the U.S. Navy’s destroyer sailors has been nothing short of commendable, a DDG is oversized for this particular mission.  In my opinion, the same work could have been done by an Aegis equipped frigate like the Constellation-class thereby underscoring the need to move forward rapidly with production of this warship based on the FREMM design.

Innovation and Integration:

Given the rapidly evolving technological landscape, and in particular the lessons learned from the maritime battlefield against a dizzying array of Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD) platforms, the U.S. Navy will have to be able to fight both inside and outside of the adversary’s weapons exclusion zone (WEZ).  The changes required to fight and win will be transformative in the way the U.S. Navy looks and operates at sea with a focus on integrating emerging technologies such as uncrewed platforms, directed energy weapons, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and a command-and-control system and common operating picture that allows for interoperability with joint forces and allies and partners. The Foundry, the Fleet, and the Fight embraces a proactive approach in research and development, fostering partnerships with industry and allied nations, and maintaining a flexible yet disciplined force structure. By doing so, we will ensure that our navies retain the ability to “fight and win decisively,” fulfilling our mission to safeguard national interests at sea and beyond.

 

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The views expressed in this piece are the sole opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Maritime Strategy or other institutions listed.

The full article is available at AirPress

Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Dean

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