CONGRESS, NAVAL WARFARE
Why the Navy wants to fix a ship it is asking to decommission
LCS-19 will be the third ship to receive the combining gear fix, but is also on the shortlist to be decommissioned.
By JUSTIN KATZ
WASHINGTON: The littoral combat ship St. Louis (LCS-19) is currently undergoing a maintenance availability where it will receive the fix to a class-wide problem discovered in the vessel’s combining gear.
That wouldn’t be very noteworthy except for one thing: The ship is on the Navy’s list of vessels it wants to decommission in fiscal 2023. So why spend time and money to fix a ship ostensibly headed for its exit from service?
Navy spokesperson Jamie Koehler said it’s because the repairs were “commenced as part of the new construction funded post-shakedown availability, prior to final decisions regarding planned decommissioning as part of the 2023 president’s budget” and noted that the repair is expected to be completed by December 2022. Further, the repairs “will allow unrestricted operations on LCS-19 prior to decommissioning and placement in out of commission, in reserve (OCIR) status,” Koehler told Breaking Defense.
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/05/why-the-navy-wants-to-fix-a-ship-it-is-asking-to-decommission/
