Page 22: of Marine News Magazine (June 2021)

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Feature

Naval Vessels

The

Navy’s

Big Fleet of

Small Boats

Kaleb R. Staples / U.S. Navy

By Edward Lundquist he Navy is known for its big ships. It has a lot of special mission ships, their focus is boats and combat craft.

T smaller boats and craft, too—3,200 of them. Since 2010, PMS 325 has awarded 136 contracts with

The three primary stakeholders for these craft are the Sur- 23 different boat builders to deliver an average of about face Fleet, Commander Navy Installations Command and 120 boats a year. Today, PMS 325 has 14 active contracts

Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Other stakehold- with 12 boat builders with a total contract value of $528 ers include Submarine Forces; Air Forces (which own the million for 902 boats, and are actively planning another aircraft carriers); Naval Special Warfare; the Coast Guard; eight procurements for 264 boats.

Naval Facilities Command and the Naval Warfare Centers. According to a response from PMS 325, current and

Boats and craft are procured and managed by Naval Sea future acquisitions include self-propelled and towed sea-

Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Of? ce borne targets and their related target augmentation sys- for Ships (PEO Ships), and speci? cally the Support Ships, tems (TAS), high-speed maneuverable surface targets

Boats and Craft Program Of? ce (PMS 325) within PEO (HSMSTs), ship-deployable surface targets (SDSTs) and

Ships, which delivers integrated ship, boat and craft prod- fast attack craft targets (FACTs). Targets, training systems ucts and services to U.S. and international maritime forces and simulations are managed with Naval Air Systems around the world. While they also procure auxiliary and Command (NAVAIR).

22 | MN June 2021