September 27, 2016
Broke Down and Tied to the Pier – the U.S. Naval Fleet Is in Dire Need of Reinforcement
At this moment the nation’s newest and most expensive aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which cost $13 billion, has two of its four main turbine generators out of commission due to voltage regulators that are incapable of handling the ship’s massive 106-megawatt electrical load. Simultaneously the USS Zumwalt, the Navy’s newest stealth land attack destroyer, which cost $4.3 billion, is also sidelined, owing to saltwater intrusion into the ship’s auxiliary motor-drive oil system. These issues come on top of a series of reports that reveal that six of the first seven littoral combat ships (LCSs) currently in commission are tied to piers because of mechanical failures. The net impact for the Navy is that, in all its fleet, only one surface ship designed after 1985 is operational today. Houston, we’ve got a problem.
To read the full article, visit the National Review website.
More from CNAS
-
Podcast
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Hellscape Taiwan: Drones, Deterrence, and the Future of Asymmetric DefenseStacie Pettyjohn joined the Irregular Warfare Podcast to examine how Taiwan could deter—or potentially defeat—a Chinese invasion by transforming the Taiwan Strait into an “unm...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Cubans Brace for U.S. "Invasion" as Tensions Rise
Video
Becca Wasser, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joined CNN’s Good Morning with Audie Cornish to discuss escalating tensions between the U.S. and...
By Becca Wasser
-
I Was the Russian Commander in a War Game. This Is How I Defeated NATO.
Commentary
Deterrence depends not only on military capabilities—which are lacking—but also on what the enemy believes about your resolve....
By Franz-Stefan Gady
-
From Innovation Ecosystem to Industrial Base
Commentary
Introduction America’s defense technology boom is real. Venture-backed firms building in artificial intelligence (AI), autonomy, space, and advanced manufacturing are winning ...
By Brian Katz
