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
-
Remote work at the Defense Department after the virus
Video
Susanna Blume, Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), discusses the future of telework at the Defense Department a...
By Susanna V. Blume
-
It’s Time to Rethink our Wargames
Commentary
National security practitioners held several high-profile pandemic wargames and exercises in the years prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Often, these games eerily predicted e...
By Chris Dougherty
-
Sharper: America's National Security Workforce
Commentary
The greatest source of strength in American national security is the people who lead and serve within its institutions. The ongoing U.S. response to the global coronavirus out...
By Emma Moore, Chris Estep & Cole Stevens
-
Let Them Work From Home
Commentary
Earlier this week Defense One reported that senior military service branch representatives requested a one-month delay in the submission of their annual budgets, arguing that ...
By Susanna V. Blume
