The US Navy faces significant challenges in maintaining its combat surface ships, even after receiving an additional $1 billion beyond its initial budget requests for maintenance, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found.
As disclosed, the new report , published on January 31, 2025, reveals that the US Navy continues to face maintenance challenges for non-nuclear-powered combat ships, even though additional funds have been allocated.
Specifically, the report identified problems, including limited spare parts, a lack of sufficient and qualified maintenance personnel, and a continual need to defer maintenance.
In line with that, the US Department of Defense (DOD) spent tens of billions of dollars in operations and maintenance (O&M) and other appropriated amounts annually to operate and maintain its weapon systems, including combat surface ships.
The US Navy operates over 230 surface and subsurface vessels, including submarines, aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, and support ships. In this review, GAO focused on the ships in the navy’s non-nuclear surface battle force.
As of 2024, the US Navy operates 149 of these ships. The 149 ships account for roughly two-thirds of the Navy’s battle force, with the remainder consisting of submarines, aircraft carriers, and support ships.
Sustaining combat surface ships involves several activities that allow the ships to reach their expected service life. These activities—which include maintenance and modernization—help the ships meet, and in some cases extend, their service life.
In its report, GAO stated that:
Several navy offices are responsible for managing the maintenance of the combat surface fleet. Key organizations involved in maintaining the fleet include: Type Commanders, Surface Ship Maintenance Engineering Planning Program (SURFMEPP), Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Expeditionary Warfare Division (N95), and Surface Warfare Division (N96).
The navy has a detailed process to manage surface ship sustainment that involves developing a budget, submitting the budget request, executing (obligating and expending) the funds, and reporting on results.
Additionally, the US Congress provides various appropriations to DOD for activities that broadly support operations of combat surface ships.
To address these issues, GAO has made a total of 46 recommendations that, as of September 2024, have not been implemented. For example, GAO recommended that the Navy:
The US Navy is currently making some progress towards implementing 12 of the 46 recommendations, GAO concluded.
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