Senate authorizers plan to increase the Navy and Marine Corps' minimum amphibious warship requirement from 31 to 33 vessels with their draft fiscal year 2027 defense policy bill, amid continuing struggles with amphibious fleet readiness.

The bill, published today after being advanced by the Seante Armed Services Committee last week, includes language that would raise the legally required minimum for amphibious warships while directing the Navy secretary to deliver a report detailing plans to sustain a continuous 3.0 amphibious readiness group marine expeditionary unit (ARG MEU) presence.

This report would be required within 180 days of the bill’s passage and must include an assessment of the total number of amphibious ships required to support the 3.0 ARG MEU presence. The report must also describe any plans to extend the service lives of vessels including the lead Wasp-class amphibious assault ship (LHD-1).

Wasp is slated to receive a five-year service life extension -- keeping the vessel in service until 2034 -- and the Navy is considering similar extensions for other ships, officials told Inside Defense in April.

The Navy and Marine Corps have been unable to maintain their 3.0 ARG MEU requirement in recent years, and multiple officials have said it will be very difficult to do so with only 31 ships.

The problem is exacerbated by poor material readiness conditions across the amphibious fleet, with readiness rates sitting below 50%.

Though the Navy’s FY-27 budget request looks to procure two new amphibious ships -- one America-class assault ship and one Flight II San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock -- in FY-27, new construction is also struggling with delays.

The future America-class amphibious assault ships Bougainville (LHA-8) and Fallujah (LHA-9) are both facing fresh year-long delays, according to budget documents, which cite labor challenges at HII’s Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, MS, as a key driver.