LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - The defence sector was given a boost on Monday as the United States Navy backed president-elect Donald Trump's campaign assertions that the country needs over 350 new warships.
A new report released by the US Navy, entitled the "Force Structure Assessment", will recommend increasing the current goal of 308 to 355, echoing what Trump espoused during his successful campaign for the White House.

Several private contractors could be set for increased sales, including General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries, which are the biggest manufacturers of warships in the US.

Also likely to applaud the news is Lockheed Martin Corp, one of the largest defence contractors in the country, who make the Aegis combat system.

"While continuing the counter-terrorism fight and appropriately competing with a growing China and resurgent Russia, our Navy must continue to grow," said Navy chief Ray Mabus said in a statement.

Trump won an unexpected victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton in November having taken a hard line against groups such as Islamic State. In a key foreign policy and national security speech in September he said that there would need to be at least 350 combat vesssels in order for the US to remain competitive.

The report concluded that 355 ships is "the level that balanced an acceptable level of war-fighting risk to our equipment and personnel against available resources and achieves a force size that can reasonably achieve success."

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