WHAT COULD GO WRONG: Navy Plans to Build Fewer Ships, Right as It’s About to Get Busier. “This is a gamble. Right as the Navy’s lowering its shipbuilding sights, it’s about to get a whole lot busier. The anticipated ‘rebalancing’ to Asia and the western Pacific places the Navy at the center of U.S. defense strategy. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are already questioning whether impending budget cuts render that strategy a non-starter. Even if they don’t happen, it remains to be seen if the Navy can shoulder that greater burden with fewer ships.”