Navy creating 30-year ship repair and modernization plan

By Justin Katz / June 19, 2018 at 11:44 AM

The Navy intends to create a 30-year ship repair and modernization plan to act as a "companion plan" to the service's current long-term shipbuilding plan, according to the Navy's top acquisition official.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Washington today, Navy acquisition executive Hondo Geurts said he expects the document to be released alongside the next long-term shipbuilding plan.

The plan would forecast all of the service's anticipated repairs and modernizations, Geurts said.

"Do we have the capabilities in the public shipyards? Do we have the capabilities in the repair yards? Do we have all the resources aligned properly to allow us to be reliable and affordable on that end of the business?" he said.

Geurts' plan, which he said is in its initial stages, comes as others focus on the Navy's maintenance initiatives.

Last week on Capitol Hill, Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, Naval Sea Systems Command chief, told lawmakers he believes the Navy should work with industry two to three years in advance to plan for future attack submarine maintenance, Inside the Navy reported.

Separately, the House Appropriations Committee in its version of the defense spending bill directs the Navy to produce a five-year plan to reduce its submarine maintenance backlog.

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