WASHINGTON — From 2015 to 2019, 38 of the 51 maintenance periods for aircraft carriers and submarines at the nation's four publicly-owned Naval shipyards were completed late.
It adds up to a combined total of more than 7,400 days of maintenance delay.
For aircraft carriers, eight of 18 repair jobs were finished on time; for submarines, only five of 33 jobs were completed on schedule.
The Government Accountability Office says aircraft carrier maintenance periods that ended late exceeded their deadlines by an average of 113 days. The agency says submarine maintenance periods ending late missed their deadlines by an average of 225 days.
"Indeed, since 2012, two-thirds of the Navy's ship and submarine availabilities have been completed late, leading to tens of thousands of lost operational and training days," said Rep John Garamendi (D-California) at a virtual House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee hearing on Thursday.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) spoke about the conditions at the four shipyards, which have been rated by the Government Accountability Office as "poor" and in "failing condition."
He said: "Our four public shipyards have too few functional drydocks that are equipped with capital equipment well beyond a service life that were originally manufactured by companies that no longer exist."
The Navy says it aims to do better.
"And we look forward to the opportunities to improve across the enterprise and execute NavSea's number one priority of delivering combat power on time," said Vice Admiral William Galinis, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command.
But lawmakers expressed skepticism. The subcommittee's chairman said he wants a new five-year plan from the Navy and an update from leadership within six months.
When asked by Garamendi if he could deliver upon that request, Vice Admiral Galinis said, "Absolutely, yes sir, We're ready to provide that. We can have that for you. Yes sir."
Another part of the equation is the work performed at the nation's 22 privately-owned new ship construction and ship repair shipyards.
Under the Senate's "SHIPYARD act," $4 billion in taxpayer funds would be directed towards those facilities for upgrades and modernizations.
Also at the hearing, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia, 2nd District) questioned the Navy's rationale for decommissioning ships that are less than 10 years old, such as Littoral Combat Ships or older platforms with service life remaining. such as Ticonderoga class cruisers.
In March, USNI News cited an unnamed legislative source when it reported that Navy leaders are considering revisiting a failed 2019 proposal to take the 23-year-old aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman out of service to save the costs of a mid-life overhaul and nuclear refueling.
Luria, Sen Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va., 1st District) all expressed opposition to that idea.