For several of the Navy’s key ship classes, steaming hours are falling while maintenance problems and costs are growing, according to government auditors, who say the Navy has not fully implemented many prior recommendations to improve ship sustainment. A decade-long Government Accountability Office review of 10 surface ship classes found “persistent and worsening sustainment challenges” with total operating and support (O&S) costs growing by approximately $2.5 billion from fiscal years 2011 to 2020, including $1.2 billion in maintenance cost growth...
