Gates Warns Navy Against Expensive Ships

Defense Secretary Robert Gates called on the U.S. Navy to reconsider it practice of buying multibillion-dollar warships, saying the shipbuilding budget is unlikely to grow, the Navy Times reports.

"At the end of the day, we have to ask whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3 [billion] to $6 billion destroyers, $7 billion submarines and $11 billion carriers," Gates said, while speaking during the conference near Washington, D.C.

Gates also questioned the...