GAO: Half of the U.S. Navy's Amphibs Have Serious Maintenance Problems
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a long-expected report on the U.S. Navy's amphibious assault vessel fleet, and the findings are dire. The amphib fleet's material readiness is in decline, and some ships have been out of service for years at a time - most notoriously USS Boxer, which underwent a series of failed repairs, missed most of a scheduled deployment and is now back in the U.S. for more repairs.
GAO concluded that if something does not change, the Navy is "likely to face difficulties" maintaining a legally-required minimum of 31 amphibious ships to support Marine Corps deployments. The Marine Corps' leaders have been warning of this looming problem for years: while the troops are ready, the ships to get them to the fight are increasingly unavailable, leading to gaps in Marine Corps availability for combatant commanders.
GAO found that the Navy's decision to cancel maintenance for soon-to-decommission ships, ship system reliability shortcomings, and problems finding spare parts were all contributing to declining material condition. The Navy says that it now intends to fully fund maintenance for the ships that it plans to retire soon, but GAO expressed concern that the service has yet to update its policies to reflect that change.
Major service life extensions may be required to keep the fleet up to the 31-hull minimum that Congress expects. In the years to come, up to half a dozen ships might need to be overhauled and extended in order to fill gaps and keep the fleet at the right size, at a cost of $1 billion-plus each.
"To avoid a sustained drop in fleet size, the Navy will need to keep nearly all its legacy amphibious assault ships in service past their expected service lives while it waits for new ships," GAO said.
As of March 2024, the Navy’s surface maintenance program ranked 16 of the Navy’s 32 amphibious warfare ships in "unsatisfactory condition." This category means that the ships are in such bad shape that they may not make it to the end of their expected service lives. According to GAO, these ships are primarily the oldest in the amphibious fleet. Recognizing these maintenance problems, in 2022 the Navy tried to divest all of its Whidbey Island-class and Harpers Ferry-class Landing Ship - Dock (LSD) vessels, a total of ten ships and a third of the entire amphib fleet. The Marine Corps objected and Congress blocked the move, but the Navy had already shut down all major maintenance for all 10 vessels. Though the ships remain in commission, they have been plagued by engine problems and ballast system issues caused by the intentionally-deferred maintenance.
"The Navy would better position amphibious warfare ships to meet their expected service lives if it updates its maintenance policy to reflect that maintenance should not be canceled on ships proposed for divestment prior to completing the waiver process," concluded GAO.
Obsolete steam plants
Seven of the Navy's amphibs - the capable Wasp-class "big decks," which are as large as escort carriers - run on non-nuclear steam propulsion, a technology that is no longer used in new construction. Steam plants require specific expertise to maintain and operate, and most of the engineers and tradesmen who could work on these systems have long since retired. Finding spare parts is also increasingly difficult, and recent Wasp-class repair periods have been delayed and fraught with problems. These will have to be resolved, because the Wasp-class are an essential part of the fleet and will likely be extended well beyond their original service lives.
A persistent failure to properly oversee repair contractors and perform quality control has made these problems worse, GAO said. "The Navy’s lack of progress toward implementing solutions in identified areas for improvement allows for these maintenance challenges to persist," the service concluded.
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