The US Navy has announced the fiscal 2012 budget and is proposing to spend $74.7bn on 55 ships through fiscal 2016.

According to the budget documents, the navy has added five ships to its six-year shipbuilding plan – a DDG-51 destroyer, a littoral combat ship (LCS), three T-AO(X) supply ships and a T-AGOS ocean surveillance ship.

The DDG-51 destroyer will be added in fiscal 2014 to sustain a 313-ship fleet, and the LCS in 2012 for surveillance and mine-hunting in shallow water.

The three T-AO(X) supply ships will be added from 2014 to 2016 and the T-AGOS surveillance ships in 2013.

Northrop will build the destroyer and the T-AO(X) supply ships for the navy, according to Bloomberg.

The proposed plan also involves the purchase of one fewer joint high-speed vessel in 2016 and the construction orders are expected to reach 13 ships in 2013.

The shipbuilding budget is likely to increase to $15.1bn in 2016 from the current $13.9bn with no proposed changes in the procurement rate of Virginia Class attack submarines and aircraft carriers.

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