The U.S. Navy is facing significant challenges with its amphibious assault fleet. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has found that 50% of the Navy’s amphibious assault fleet is in poor condition. This means that many of these ships are not meeting their expected service lives due to deferred maintenance and structural issues.
The report highlights that 16 out of the 32 ships in the fleet are considered to be in poor material condition. This has resulted in 28.5 years of lost training and deployment time for the Marine Corps units that rely on these ships. The maintenance delays and obsolescence issues have also led to missed training opportunities and deployment schedules.
The Navy has been struggling with maintenance schedules for over a decade, and the situation has been exacerbated by decisions to cancel maintenance periods for ships that were later retained by Congress. This has created a backlog of maintenance tasks and a shortage of spare parts.
The impacts of these issues are far-reaching. The lack of available ships has hampered the Marine Corps’ ability to respond to global crises and maintain a consistent presence in key regions. For example, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there was no Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) deployed, and Marines had to rely on other countries for evacuation efforts during the Sudan civil war in 2023.
Sources:
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-106728
h/t Glenn