All Navy programs 'On the Table'.

Although the Navy does not have the equivalent of a "Comanche" on the horizon, all programs are under review in preparation for the fiscal year 2006 budget submission, said the chief of naval operations.

The Navy is embarking on a new strategy that requires reassessing every program, said Adm. Vernon Clark. A case in point is the current requirement for 55 attack submarines. "That will be a major issue we are examining in the POM '06," Clark told reporters. The POM is the program objective memorandum that sets priorities for the 2006-2011 budget.

The naval aviation requirement is likely to remain at 10 carrier air wings, but there will be fewer airplanes in the fleet overall, and aviators will get fewer flying hours in training. The message is that the Navy plans to get "more utility" out of a smaller force, Clark said. "We are creating a new Navy ... with more capability, but fewer people."

As the Navy gears up to build new classes of surface combatants--the DDX destroyer, the CGX cruiser and the Littoral Combat Ship--experts question whether the service will have no choice but to downsize the aviation and the submarine forces to pay for the new ships.

According to Clark, there are no fixed "shares" of resources within the Navy for each warfare community. Decisions will be based on what the nation needs, he said.

The carrier-based version of the Joint Strike Fighter is one program that remains full of uncertainty. The Navy is pleased by the performance ante of the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, and does not yet intend to commit procurement dollars to JSF, said Clark. "I want the JSF capabilities," he said. But he is not yet ready to nail down a procurement plan until the development of the aircraft is completed.