The U.S. Navy plans to decommission more than three dozen ships by the end of next year. Included in the list are several old vessels that have served for nearly four decades and some newer ones that have been commissioned for just a few years, Popular Mechanics reported this week.

The Navy, as the magazine noted, has pledged to increase the size of the fleet for years now and is going to get rid of 39 ships in 2023, including 23 from the battle fleet. That includes five guided missile cruisers and two submarines, as well as nine ships in the Freedom-class of littoral combat ships, which cost about $4.5 billion to construct and the oldest of which is only 10 years old, ABC News said.

Among the littoral combat ships getting the heave-ho are the USS St. Louis, which was commissioned in August 2020 and cost about $450 million, and the USS Little Rock, commissioned in December 2017 and costing $350 million.

The Navy said the move to do away with the ships will save the service $391 million, according to the House Armed Service Committee. Some of the vessels will be put up for sale to foreign militaries, some will be recycled, and the fate of others will ultimately be determined by Congress.

Experts said the move is necessary to make the Navy ready for modern warfare. Some of these ships, they said, won’t do the job as the U.S. works to keep up with China’s rapidly growing fleet, which is set to have an estimated 460 ships by the 2030s. And then there’s the growing threat from Russia, as the Kremlin seeks to assert its strength. Now the Navy, which is far ahead of its adversaries when it comes to naval technology, is focused on developing a new class of ships better suited to Beijing’s expansion and Moscow’s saber-rattling.