Tag Archives: budget cuts

Pentagon budget cuts mean USS Miami will be scrapped, not repaired

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The USS Miami will be scrapped, not repaired.

Navy drops plans to repair submarine Miami

Smoke rises from a dry dock as fire crews respond Wednesday, May 23, 2012 to a fire on the nuclear submarine Miami, SSN 755, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on an island in Kittery, Maine. Seven people were injured, including a firefighter. (AP Photo | The Herald, Ionna Raptis)

PORTLAND, Maine

The Navy has decided to scrap the Miami instead of repairing the nuclear-powered submarine because of budget cuts and growing costs of repairing damage from a fire set by a shipyard worker while the vessel was in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, officials said Tuesday.

Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, director of undersea warfare, said repairing the Groton, Conn.-based sub would have meant canceling work on dozens of other ships because of new budget restraints.

He said that would’ve hurt the Navy’s overall readiness.

“The Navy and the nation simply cannot afford to weaken other fleet readiness in the way that would be required to afford repairs to Miami,” Breckenridge said in a statement.

Inspections revealed that a significant number of components in the torpedo room and auxiliary machinery room would require replacement, further driving up the repair costs for the Miami. The Navy originally said it planned to repair the submarine, but the discovery of additional damage raised the cost, originally estimated to be about $450 million.

A shipyard worker, Casey James Fury of Portsmouth, N.H., was sentenced to 17 years in prison after admitting he set fire to the Miami, which was undergoing a 20-month overhaul at the Kittery shipyard.

It took 12 hours and the efforts of more than 100 firefighters to save the Los Angeles-class attack submarine. Seven people were hurt.

The fire, set on May 23, 2012, damaged forward compartments including living quarters, a command and control center and the torpedo room. Weapons had been removed for the repair, and the fire never reached the rear of the submarine, where the nuclear propulsion components are located.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire issued a statement blaming the decision to scrap the submarine on the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

“We are disappointed by the Navy’s decision to discontinue repairs to the USS Miami. Inactivating the Miami will mean a loss to our nuclear submarine fleet — yet another unfortunate consequence of the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. We will continue to work together to find a responsible budget solution that replaces sequestration,” they said.

The Navy announced last summer that it intended to repair the Miami with a goal of returning it to service in 2015. The Navy said it would be cost-effective because the 22-year-old submarine could serve another 10 years.

The decision to deactivate the Miami was a difficult one, “taken after hard analysis and not made lightly,” Breckenridge said in his statement. “But in exchange for avoiding the cost of repairs, we will open up funds to support other vital maintenance efforts, improving the wholeness and readiness of the fleet.”

The repairs have potential implications for both Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers and workers from Electric Boat in Groton, who expected to play a major role in the repair effort.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/navy-drops-plans-repair-submarine-miami

The diminishing state of the French Navy seems all-too familiar

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The French Navy’s politically-driven budget woes seem to be uncannily similar to those faced by the Royal Navy. The early decommissioning of the surface combatants and a reduced number of replacement vessels is the most obvious example. If we look at the future strength of the French Navy (Marine Nationale) as proposed in the 2013 Defence White Paper (livre blanc sur la défense et la sécurité nationale) the leaner forces will be expected to do as much, if not more.

Les forces navales reposeront sur la FOST avec ses 4 SNLE, des capacités de combat de premier plan pour les opérations de haute intensité et de gestion des crises majeures, avec un porte-avions, 6 SNA, 3 Bâtiments de projection et de commandement et 15 frégates de premier rang, comprenant les frégates de défense aérienne, les frégates multi-missions et des unités de combat moins puissantes, notamment les frégates de type Lafayette adaptées avec sonar. Elles seront complétées par des unités plus légères aptes au contrôle des espaces maritimes : 15 patrouilleurs, 6 frégates de surveillance, des bâtiments d’assistance. Elles comprendront également des avions de patrouille maritime ainsi qu’une capacité de guerre des mines apte à la protection de nos approches et à la projection en opérations extérieures.

Let’s translate that into English.

The naval forces will rely on the FOST (strategic oceanic force), with its four nuclear-powered, ballistic missile-carrying submarines (SSBN), high-level combat capabilities for high-intensity operations and major crisis management missions, with an aircraft carrier, six nuclear-powered attack submarines, three combined support and command vessels (BPC) and 15 frontline frigates, including air defence frigates, multi-mission frigates and less powerful combat units, notably Lafayette-type frigates with sonar capabilities. They will be supplemented by lighter units capable of controlling maritime spaces: 15 patrol boats, six surveillance frigates and support vessels. They will also include naval patrol aircraft and a mine-laying capability to protect our approaches and for deployment in external operations.

That politicians experience no cognitive dissonance is remarkable.