In six years, the U.S. Navy will have more ships, more cutting-edge weaponry and tactics and a greater ability to both show the flag in peacetime and sink enemy fleets during war.

That’s what Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, told the U.S. Senate in late March. But Greenert’s sweeping vision of a bigger and deadlier fleet came with a chilling caveat.

Congress’ refusal to pass adequate budgets could undermine the expanding Navy, the admiral warned, robbing it of vital training and maintenance funds and forcing it to decommission some of its most powerful warships.

Today’s fleet numbers 290 front-line warships plus more than a hundred ships in the quasi-military Sealift Command and in ready reserve, manned and supported by 600,000 active and reserve sailors and Navy civilians.

Total cost: $150 billion a year, a sum that also pays for the entire U.S. Marine Corps.

Right now the sailing branch forward-deploys 104 warships, according to Greenert—48 ships in the Western Pacific, 32 in the Middle East, 21 in European waters, two off of East Africa and a single vessel in Latin America. The balance of the battle fleet—185 ships—is in the U.S. for maintenance and training.