House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair Elaine Luria pressed members of the Naval Sea Systems Command on the maintenance delays that are significantly impacting operational availability in a subcommittee meeting this week.
Her questions came during a Readiness Subcommittee hearing on Ship and Submarine Maintenance, where she stressed that investments in public and private shipyards, and that workforce, will increase the effective size of the fleet.
Luria (D-VA-02) also questioned the rationale for decommissioning ships that are less than ten years old, like the Littoral Combat Ships or older platforms with service life remaining such as the Ticonderoga class cruisers, drawing on her own experience as Executive Officer of USS ANZIO. She asked Vice Admiral William J. Galinas to provide the Readiness Subcommittee with the amount of funds required to retain the 11 cruisers and the first four LCS that the Navy proposes to decommission in its recent “Battle Force 2045” plan.
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