Half the US Navy's aircraft carrier fleet can't deploy, but the service says it has what it needs to maintain the fleet
- At least 6, possibly 7, of the US Navy's aircraft carriers are unable to deploy, according to an exchange between NAVSEA commander Vice Adm. Tom Moore and Rep. Elaine Luria at a congressional hearing Tuesday.
- The carriers currently in a non-deployable state are undergoing maintenance, in or preparing for a mid-life overhaul, recovering from a malfunction, or dealing with new construction issues.
- Although a number of carriers are not available for deployments, the Navy insisted at Tuesday's hearing that it has it needs to maintain the world's foremost carrier fleet effectively.
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While the US maintains an unmatched aircraft carrier force, about half of the fleet is presently in a non-deployable state.
During an exchange between Vice Adm. Tom Moore, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, and Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat congresswoman from Virginia, at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, it came to light that at least 6, possibly 7, of the service's 11 carriers are presently unable to deploy.
On the East Coast, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is winding up to an expected deployment next year after maintenance was extended well beyond the planned six-month availability.
The USS George Washington (CVN-73) is in its Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH).
The USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) was expected to deploy in September but was sidelined after it suffered an electrical malfunction, a highly unusual setback that saw the rest of the strike group deploy without it.
The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is currently undergoing maintenance on an extended schedule.
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), a new construction which was initially expected to be delivered last year but may not have full capability for a few more years, is preparing to leave its post-shakedown availability (PSA).
On the West Coast, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is in maintenance.
And, then there is the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), which is in Norfolk on the East Coast to serve as a carrier qualifications (CQ) carrier prior to its impending RCOH.
While the carrier's commanding officer says the Stennis is in a non-deployable state, according to Luria, NAVSEA argues that the "Stennis is available if we want to use it." It would be highly unusual to deploy an aircraft carrier immediately before or instead of a scheduled RCOH, an expensive and important overhaul planned months and years ahead.
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), which was sent to the Middle East as a deterrence asset amid tensions with Iran, has had its deployment extended, with some observers linking that to the setback aboard the Truman and other readiness concerns.
The current situation, Moore told Congress Tuesday during a hearing on ship maintenance and readiness, is "obviously not where we desire to be." He did, however, offer explanations for the present situation, highlighting demands for "unique work," unexpected issues, and then normal maintenance and mid-life refueling activities.
Luria, who pointed out that the Navy has only two suitable shipyards - Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Puget Sound - capable of working on its nuclear-powered carriers, asked Moore twice if the Navy had the necessary resources to maintain the carrier force.
Both times, he assured her that the Navy did.