The Navy opted to decommission its mine countermeasures Avenger-class (MCM-1) ships early because of constrained funding and the willingness of service leadership to take additional risk in fielding replacement capabilities, according to a Navy official. The service's fiscal year 2019 budget sought money to improve the hull, mechanical and electrical equipment on the MCM-1 ships. This year's budget reversed course and instead planned to decommission those ships, according to Cmdr. David Zielinski, mine warfare branch head in the service’s expeditionary...
