Wednesday, November 4

Short a ship, the Navy tells Congress of “carrier gap”

The aircraft carrier "is at the very core of our maritime strategy," US Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Sean Stackley told the House Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee on Tuesday. But as Stackley and other Navy officials testified, the Navy can't currently keep enough carriers ready to meet the readiness levels mandated by Congress. And for the first time since 2007, there is no aircraft carrier task force in the Middle East—just as the US is raising the stakes in its fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The reasons are simple: years of deferred maintenance because of budget sequestration and wear and tear from constant demand for aircraft carriers for military operations around the world. It's not a problem the Navy is going to be able to turn around on a dime. The Navy leadership testified that the fleet's carriers won't be able to get back to the prescribed readiness levels—two carrier strike groups deployed at all times, with three additional strike groups ready to deploy if there's a need for a "surge"—until 2018.

The USS Gerald Ford, the next US aircraft carrier, is being built to replace the now-retired USS Enterprise, which was deactivated in 2013 after more than 50 years of service. But the Ford's completion has run into delays in part because of the budget sequestrations enacted by Congress. Stackley said the Ford is not expected to join the fleet at full readiness until 2021, which means the Navy will be operating with one less carrier than called for by Congress for the next six years.

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