The Navy’s continuing cruiser debacle
A multi-billion dollar effort to modernize the warships has not gone as planned
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
Oct 3, 01:15 PM
Back in 2015, the guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg began a lengthy modernization process that was supposed to enable the warship’s service life to be extended into the 2030s.
The congressionally mandated effort would go on to include six other Ticonderoga-class cruisers in the following years, a move that sought to maintain the Navy’s surface fires and air defense capabilities even after the warships’ standard 35-year service life came to an end.
Chosin, Cape St. George, Hué City, Anzio, Vicksburg and Cowpens joined Gettysburg in the so-called “Cruiser Mod” program, with contract announcements rolled out amid promises that modernizing the aging ships would keep them in the fleet for years to come.
The massive project aimed to upgrade combat systems and sensors while refreshing aging hulls, mechanical and electrical systems. But it involved laying up the ships for years while they waited their turn for deep dry dock makeovers.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2023/10/03/the-navys-continuing-cruiser-debacle/
