No, we need 13 to 15, of which, to be blunt about it, three or four would be reserves against losses in any confrontation with anyone whose asses we'll have to kick so hard their hemorrhoids will get stuck to their tonsils.
The stink of rationalization is all over this "review" Gates is talking about.
We have plenty of "cheap ships" if he needs them: They're laid up in Bremerton and Suisun Bay and the James River.
If the politicians can stop expending them as targets.
The last time I was up the James River, about four years ago, ALL of those ships looked in pretty rough shape. Do we have the yards to repair them and the crews to man them?