Military

Delays, Problems Plague US Navy New Ships, Upkeep Despite $2Bln Boost

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Navy's shipbuilding program is being seriously delayed by "gross inefficiencies and problems" despite an additional expenditure of almost $2 billion that had been approved to solve the issues, US House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Ken Calvert said on Wednesday.
Sputnik
"My concern [is] regarding the nearly $2 billion requested for completing ship construction that was previously funded," Calvert said. "In a time of constrained budgets, this reflects the gross inefficiencies and problems in our shipbuilding program."
Issues plaguing the shipbuilding and maintenance programs included lack of experienced manpower at public shipyards, inconsistent demand signals from the Defense Department and successive administrations and government paperwork delays, Calvert said.
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The almost $2 billion extra expenditure "is a historic level of traditional funding that represents cost overruns driven by schedule delays and poor program execution. ...The committee continues to see the Navy spend every cent appropriated for ship maintenance but complete fewer capabilities than forecasted," Calvert also said.
The Navy's capabilities and capacity were being further eroded by the maintenance delays that plagued the fleet, Calvert added.
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