600 - ship Navy The 600 - Ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War . The plan , which originated with Republican leaders , was an important campaign plank of Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election , who advocated a larger military and strategic confrontation with the Soviet Union . The program included : The idea was supported by John F . Lehman who became Reagan ' s Secretary of the Navy , and Caspar Weinberger , Reagan ' s Secretary of Defense . Background . The idea behind the 600 - ship navy can be traced back to the Vietnam War . During the war , the armed services rapidly expanded to meet the demands placed on them . With the end of the Vietnam War , the American government reduced military spending . By 1978 Admiral James L . Holloway III concluded that the navy had a very slim margin over its Soviet counterpart . The Soviet Union , which had been supporting North Vietnam , began staging their naval vessels from former US ports in South Vietnam . Building on this gain , Soviet vessels began to sail in all seven seas with increased vigor and even ventured into the Gulf of Mexico . Soviet forces also stepped up infantry , armor and air force deployments in Eastern Europe . Finally , in 1979 , the takeover of a US embassy in the Iran hostage crisis , and the failure of a rescue mission in Operation Eagle Claw , heightened the sense that American military power was becoming more limited . Reagan plan . It was against this backdrop in 1980 that the United States began an election year . Ronald Reagan , a Republican , ran the presidential race on a platform that included improving the armed services , which appealed to then - current American concerns regarding Soviet military power . He continued this in 1984 , releasing a campaign commercial , A bear in the woods , which played on the use of the bear as a national symbol of Russia , asked the rhetorical question , " Isn ' t it smart to be as strong as the bear ? " Under the programs put forth by Reagan , the overseas strategic retaliation arm was strengthened and the development of new weaponry like the B - 1B bomber , the Bradley fighting vehicle , and the Abrams tank was completed and they were put into production . Lehman attempted to " front - load " the program , by committing the navy to the building program , but in the end the funds were not available and it fell short . Ships and weapons systems deployed during the plan era . The navy saw the largest benefit of the rebuilding . Under the Reagan Administration , the first of the ballistic missile submarine s was completed . This class was the largest submarine ever built in the US . The ship carried 24 Trident I nuclear - capable missiles , each one with a range . Construction of the " Nimitz " class of supercarrier s and attack submarine s was dramatically stepped up . The revolutionary new Aegis combat system was installed on the up - and - coming ships , production of which was also stepped up . Several aircraft carriers were put through Service Life Extension Programs ( SLEPs ) aimed at keeping them in service longer . The " Iowa " - class battleships , built in the 1940s , were all recommissioned and refitted with RGM - 84 Harpoon , BGM - 109 Tomahawk , and Phalanx CIWS system capabilities , plus their armor plating would be more resilient against anti - ship missile s . The first Harpoons , Tomahawks , and AGM - 88 HARM missiles all debuted on the navy ' s ships . Naval aviation was stepped up with the introduction of the F / A - 18 Hornet , along with improved versions of the EA - 6 Prowler electronic countermeasure aircraft , the A - 6 Intruder , and the F - 14 Tomcat . In addition , the nation ' s strategic retaliatory arm was strengthened with advanced B - 1B bombers and deploying Pershing II theater missiles to Europe . The initiative also included deployment of sophisticated Abrams main battle tanks and Bradley armored fighting vehicles . End of the plan . Eventually political pressure to reduce the national budget deficit resulted in Congress reversing itself and passing a series of declining defense budgets beginning in 1986 . Weinberger clashed with Congress over the cuts , resigning in late 1987 , and was succeeded by the more pragmatic Frank Carlucci . Lehman ' s successor as Navy Secretary , Jim Webb , remained a fierce proponent of the expanded fleet , and disagreed with Carlucci over how to cut the navy budget in line with other services . Webb resigned rather than endorse Carlucci ' s cut of 16 frigate s . As revealed in " The Reagan Diaries " , Reagan reflected about Webb ' s resignation on 22 February 1988 : " Present Sec . Webb resigned over budget cuts . I don ' t think Navy was sorry to see him go . " Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the lack of a perceived threat against the United States , several of the Reagan Administration ' s policies and plans , such as the " 600 - ship navy " , were scaled back or abandoned . US bases across Europe and North America were slowly decommissioned and closed , others were mothballed through the Base Realignment and Closure process . In the navy , this resulted in the retirement of several older carriers , the decommissioning of all four of the " Iowa " - class battleships and the cancellation of the remaining s .