The Marine Corps wants the Navy to build more amphibious ships to support the Corps’ goal of keeping three amphibious ready groups at sea at all times—but the service still needs to figure out how many it needs, and funding for 2026 remains in flux.

The Marines long to return to the days when they had three amphibious ready groups, each carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed at all times. It’s the Corps’ “north star,” Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, told lawmakers on Wednesday.

“Thirty-one is not adequate to get us to a 3.0 ARG-MEU presence,” Austin testified. “We need to understand what the requirements are to have the amphibious force that will source a continuous 3.0 ARG-MEUs presence. So we're working through those processes

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