Military.com News:
House lawmakers are limiting the amount of time the Navy will be able to lay up portions of its fleet ofcruisers from four years down to two years, citing combatant commanders’ need for the ships’ ballistic missile defense technologies.
The current Navy plan allows the service to take two cruisers out of the fleet rotation for modernization upgrades each year for up to four years. No more than six cruisers can be in modernization at any given time, according to the current provision.
Navy officials have described this plan to temporarily lay up portions of the cruiser fleet as a cost saving measure that will modernize the ships and extend their long-term service life. During the time that they are taken out of the operational fleet, the cruisers will save the Navy from paying operating costs and undergo a series of hull, mechanical and electrical upgrades. The ships will also receive combat systems modernization.
The House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee proposed legislation that the modernization periods should be limited to two-years unless specifically extended by the Secretary of the Navy.
The most-recent Navy plan, called the “2-4-6” plan, schedules two cruisers at a time to be in service for up to four years. The new Congressional language is a “2-2-6” plan which places a two-year limit on the length of time a cruiser can be laid up for modernization work.
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, was the original author of the new provision shortening the time period for which cruisers could be removed from the fleet. The provision is based on combatant commanders’ increased demand for ballistic missile defense capabilities because of North Korean, Russian and Chinese threats, subcommittee sources said…
