U.S. Navy Submarine Fleet Faces Extensive Maintenance Delays, Impacting Operational Readiness
The U.S. Navy's submarine fleet has experienced over 15,000 lost operational days in the last decade due to maintenance delays and downtime, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study. These delays have resulted in an estimated $3.4 billion in crew and ship costs. The GAO report highlights that government-operated shipyards, responsible for nearly all submarine maintenance, completed only 11% of the work on time over the same period. A significant contributor to this issue is 'inactive idle time,' where submarines awaiting decommissioning spend thousands of days waiting for dry dock space, with crews still required to remain aboard. U.S. Representative Joe Courtney, a ranking member of the House Armed Services committee’s Seapower Subcommittee, acknowledged the delays but stated that the Navy had initiated corrective measures prior to the report's release, and the GAO report does not fully reflect ongoing improvements. 
