Over the past ten years, less than a third of the US Navy's attack submarines have completed maintenance on time.. This was stated by Vice Admiral Bill Galinis, head of the US Naval Systems Command., speaking at the American Society of Marine Engineers Symposium on Fleet Maintenance and Modernization.
The US Navy currently has 50 attack submarines of various classes. Submarines play a key role in the alleged confrontation with China in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the command of the Naval Forces has questions about the timeliness of the tasks for the maintenance of submarines..
So, currently 18 submarines are under maintenance. The earliest Virginia-class submarines are the hardest and longest to repair.. Now, emphasizes the representative of the Navy, management is trying to figure out, what is the reason for the increase in man-days spent, necessary for the full maintenance of submarines and bringing them into a state of readiness for operation.
The main part of the work on attack submarines should be carried out by the state shipyards of the US Navy, however, now commercial shipyards have taken over part of the work. This is due to the record loss of workers at state-owned shipyards.: people quit because of low wages, what entails a decrease in the productivity of shipyards.
According to the U.S. Accounts Office, Virginia-class submarines returned to service almost nine months late on average, what was originally calculated. Los Angeles-class submarines took four and a half months longer to complete all maintenance activities.
Naturally, Longer maintenance period means higher maintenance costs. For reasons of cost savings, the Navy has to postpone the maintenance of many submarines. Nevertheless, the American command is not discouraged. It claims, the lessons, learned from the support problem for Virginia-class submarines, made it possible to determine a further strategy for the repair and maintenance of submarines. Author:Ilya Polonsky Photos used:U.S. Navy
