NORFOLK, Va. — The USS Harry S. Truman returned to sea on Monday to make sure the ship is well prepared for deployment after it spent months docked for maintenance.
Officials tell us the aircraft carrier needed to go out to sea "in order to re-integrate the carrier and air wing after several months of maintenance and is making final preparations to ensure the carrier, air wing, and Sailors are operationally ready for deployment.”
Repairs were completed on the ship last week after the Navy said an electrical issue needed to be fixed back in August. Now, the Navy hopes that the ship is ready to conduct operations.
Before the electrical issue arose, the ship was initially supposed to be retired, according to the 2020 Defense budget. This would create more budgetary flexibility to develop new manned and unmanned weapons systems and save billions in the process.
There's no word on if the ship will deploy while at sea, but officials say every effort is being made to make sure the carrier is "operationally ready to deploy."