US Navy Ship Maintenance 30% Behind Schedule Since 2012, F-35 Short Of Parts - Report

US Navy Ship Maintenance 30% Behind Schedule Since 2012, F-35 Short of Parts - Report

The US Navy faces persistent maintenance and personnel challenges as it seeks to rebuild ship and submarine readiness, and its corrective will take years to implement, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2018) The US Navy faces persistent maintenance and personnel challenges as it seeks to rebuild ship and submarine readiness, and its corrective will take years to implement, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report on Wednesday.

"The Navy has struggled to complete ship maintenance - with only 30 percent of maintenance completed on time since fiscal year 2012 - leading to thousands of days that ships were unavailable for training and operations," the report said.

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft availability has been limited due to numerous challenges and the seven aircraft that the GAO reviewed have generally experienced decreasing availability since fiscal year 2011 and did not meet availability goals in fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the report added.

"The F-35B - the future of (US) naval aviation - also has not met availability goals due to part shortages and poor sustainment planning," the GAO stated.

The US Navy has indicated that it wants to grow its fleet to meet demands. However, the costs of such growth are not yet known and would likely require resourcing well above currently planned levels, the report cautioned.