A Strategic Assessment of the Future of U.S. Navy Ship Maintenance: Chalenges and Opportunities
Abstract
The U.S. Navy's ship inventory and the shipbuilding and repair industrial base that supports these ships have experienced significant changes over the previous three decades. The number of ships in the fleet declined, from a total 454 active ships in 1993 to a low of 271 in 2015. However, the Navy's most recent Long-Range Shipbuilding Plan suggests that changes to the fleet composition and the maintenance requirements of the fleet are likely to occur in the next 30 years. Specifically, there will be an increased number of littoral combat ships (LCSs), which have distinctly different maintenance requirements from other platforms in the fleet. However, as the fleet has declined in the past, so has the number of maintenance providers. In 1993, the U.S. Navy had nine public shipyards. Today there are four. These naval shipyards are almost exclusively focused on supporting nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. The work conducted at the public shipyards that once also maintained surface ships has largely transitioned to the private-sector providers. To ensure that the private-sector industrial base is available and able to support the Navys future maintenance and modernization requirements, the Navy must understand the future maintenance needs and develop a strategic approach to ensure that the necessary capabilitiesincluding facilities, engineers, and trade laborare available. RAND Corporation researchers assisted the Commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to reach these goals through three interrelated tasks: (1) estimate future workload demands, (2) characterize the current repair and modernization industrial base capacity, and (3) compare the supply and the demand of resources to identify potential misalignments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1057216
Entities
People
- Abby Schendt
- Alyssa Ramos
- Angelena Bohman
- Bradley Martin
- James G. Kallimani
- Jessie Riposo
- Michael E. Mcmahon
Organizations
- RAND Corporation