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The amphibious fleet of the US Navy is facing a serious combat readiness crisis, and there is no improvement in the situation in the near future.
- it says in the publication of The War Zone.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) came to these conclusions after examining the condition of 32 amphibious assault ships (LHD/LHA), landing dock ships (LSD) and amphibious transport dock ships (LPD), which combine into amphibious assault groups (ARG) transporting marines by sea, their aviation and other equipment.
Without these ships, which are based in San Diego, Little Creek, Virginia, and Sasebo, Japan, it will be difficult for the Marines to conduct combat deployments or training.
The GAO draws attention to many long-standing problems that affect the entire fleet to one degree or another, including chronic maintenance delays, competing budget priorities, poorly planned early decommissioning attempts that were carried out without the necessary Congressional approval, a shortage of spare parts, poor-quality supervision of contractors, and more.
Two high-profile cases involving amphibious ships this year have demonstrated the real consequences of ongoing problems in the navy. The Boxer Landing Group, which includes USS Boxer (LHD-4), USS Somerset (LPD-25) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), faced delays in service and was unable to carry out its planned sea launch in September 2023. Because of this, the deployed Marine unit did not receive F-35 fighters.
Image source: topwar.ru
The landing group led by the USS America (LHA-6) was unable to participate in maneuvers in full force this year due to the absence of three ships, which led to the fact that the Navy and the ILC were not represented at the exercises and did not ensure their presence in the area of responsibility.
According to the GAO's findings, from 2010 to 2021, the Navy had to extend the maintenance time of 71% of amphibious assault ships, which cost the Marines almost 29 years of lost training and deployment time.
The command of the KMP expressed dissatisfaction with the inability of the Navy to restore order in its amphibious units. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti said Tuesday that agencies are working to understand how they can solve maintenance problems and that the Navy is financing the purchase of new ships.
The GAO report says that due to the age of the ships and other factors, it will be difficult for the Navy to meet the statutory requirement of having at least 31 amphibious pennants. There are currently 32 units of this type in the fleet, but this does not mean that they are in good condition:
