Why the US Navy Is in Decline

The Seawolf Class Boat USS Connecticut ran into an uncharted underwater mountain in 2021.

It limped back to port, and was supposed to repaired last year, about 4 years, which is a complete mind f%$#.  The initial construction of the boat took 5 years. 

Now it will not return to service until at least 2027.

By way of context, Connecticut is slated for retirement in 2031, so it will have been repair for 6 of its last 10 years of service.

The U.S. Navy’s schedule for getting USS Connecticut, one of its prized Seawolf class nuclear attack submarines, back into service has slipped into next summer. The boat suffered severe damage, especially to its bow, in a collision with an underwater seamount in the South China Sea in 2021. The service had previously hoped that repairs would be finished before the end of this year, and planning is also now underway for the submarine’s retirement in 2031. This would mean it could serve for just four years before being pulled from service once and for all.

“USS Connecticut (SSN 22) is currently undergoing a complex Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Current work consists of structural and systems restoration and required lifecycle maintenance,” a Navy official told TWZ today. “The Navy’s target completion date for the availability is the summer of 2027. PSNS & IMF is dedicated to executing this work with the highest standards of safety, technical accuracy, and craftsmanship to ensure the ship returns to the fleet ready to take its place at the tip of the spear in defense of our nation’s interests.”

I'm guessing that a lot of this delay comes from contractor's rat-f%$#ing the ability of the Navy to conduct repairs in house, but I am cynical that way.

This Only Way This Prank Could Be More Epic Would Be if Virginia Woolf Were a Co-Conspirator Oh, Wait.

It's the early 1900s, and the most powerful ship of its day, HMS Dreadnought, is visited by an Abyssinian Prince and his entourage.

Only it wasn't an Abyssinian Prince and his entourage, it was a bunch of pranksters from Cambridge University. 

One of the participants was one Virginia Stephen, better known by here married name of Woolf, who later observed that she was treated with more respect when she was disguised as a black man than she was as a white woman, which likely informed some of her later feminist writings.

In any case, the prank, and it's stupid macho aftermath, is well worth learning about.

Not a Good Look

Click to embiggen







I am referring, of course, to CVN-72, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has arrived in Laem Chabang, Thailand looking like an extra from the zombie film 28 Days Later.

No wonder crewmen were literately throwing themselves into the ocean. 

The U.S. Navy’s supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln is now in Thailand for a much-deserved and highly publicized liberty port call. The carrier had gone 286 days without making such a stop, with much of that time spent executing grueling combat operations against Iran. The ship has been run very hard, relying on at times a rickety conveyor of sea replenishments to continue operating for months on end, and it has the scars to show for it. The Lincoln looks very much worse for wear, with so-called “running rust” and algae caked all along the sides of the hull, as well as around the edges of the flight deck and sponsons on either side. It’s something of a startling appearance for one of the most powerful ships on the planet and a major symbol of U.S. power projection, but it is also a reminder of what the vessel and its crew have endured for months on end.

The Lincoln arrived in the Thai port of Laem Chabang earlier today. The carrier did make a stop in Guam in December 2025 and reportedly made another one somewhere in the Middle East in July. However, in both cases, these have been characterized as brief logistical stopovers that did not offer any real opportunity for personnel onboard to disembark. Thai media reports say the carrier is expected to remain in Laem Chabang through the end of the weekend.

Great Googly Moogly!

Our Dumb Polity

It appears that Trump has another issue with the New Ford Class aircraft carriers, he thinks that the the location of the island toward the stern is ugly, and wants it changed.

This is even stupider than his order to remove the electronic catapults on the new class.  (The electronic catapults, arresting gear, and lifts have all been a bit of a cluster f%$#, but we're well past the limits of the sunk cost fallacy there)

The U.S. Navy is considering a major redesign of its new aircraft carriers to better match President Donald Trump’s preferred aesthetic for the warships, according to seven current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. 

The service is evaluating the feasibility of moving the multistory tower that acts as the carrier’s command center farther forward, toward the middle of the ship, to resemble older vessels, the officials said. The review, which has not been previously reported, is in response to Trump’s concerns about the “look” of the new Ford-class ships, where the tower is near the rear, these people said.

The timing and extent of the Navy’s evaluation is unclear, with current and former officials cautioning that the service was concerned that such a change would require significant time and money. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.

Moving that command center, known as the “island,” would be the second major design change prompted by the president, who on Thursday issued a national security memorandum directing the Navy to develop a plan to revert to older steam-powered catapults on future carriers. The systems help launch jets off the ships’ flight decks.

Trump’s preference, current and former officials said, is for the new aircraft carriers to look more like those that were in service during World War II.

The Navy also examined the issue during his first term as president, said a former senior U.S. official. A study found that moving the island could cost billions of dollars in redesign costs and significantly delay the program, this person said. 

 The stupid, it burns.

A Complete Sh%$ Show

Things have gotten so bad on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that sailors are literally jumping overboard to get off the ship.

Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.

Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.

Not to worry.  I'm sure that once Hegseth's plan to give testosterone shots to sailors will fix everything.

……… 

The Navy Times gave details of thwarted suicide attempts onboard the aircraft carrier during the current deployment. Annabelle Loma told the outlet that her husband had tried to jump overboard after his spell at sea kept being extended. 

At this rate, we are going to start seeing a return of officers being fragged sooner rather than later.

OK, Now I Take Them Seriously

We have seen a number of people sounding the alarm for years about the People's Republic of China naval buildup.

Generally, I have been dismissive of such efforts.  I have generally seen their efforts being more directed to near deterrence and national prestige.

There is simply too much to be done in training, culture, infrastructure, and logistics for them to be a global naval power. 

Well, I just saw a data point that indicates that the PRC is getting serious, specifically the construction of an enormous at-sea replenishment ship. 

As the old saying goes, "Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics."

This is serious.

A very large and interesting-looking vessel is taking shape at a shipyard in southeastern China. What can be seen of it so far points strongly to it being the largest naval resupply ship anywhere in the world. A vessel like this would be valuable for supporting the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) growing blue water ambitions. It would be particularly important for enabling the PLAN’s conventionally-powered aircraft carriers, their air wings, and their escorts, to operate for sustained periods of time far from Chinese shores and friendly ports.

The ship is being built at a yard on Longxue Island, which is situated just southeast of the city of Guangzhou. A review of satellite imagery from Planet Labs indicates that it has been under construction since at least February. A subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) operates this facility. That firm is currently known as the CSSC Offshore and Marine Engineering Company (COMEC). It was previously called Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).

………

In recent years, the yard has become well known for the construction of unique and unusual vessels with clear military or at least dual-purpose applications. This includes what may be a one-of-a-kind ostensibly civilian ‘research carrier,’ jack-up barges designed to connect together to support amphibious operations, and a stealthy trimaran drone ship. Soviet-designed Zubr class heavy hovercraft, which China has built examples of domestically under license, are also regularly seen there. 

The ship being built on Longxue Island that is now drawing attention is approximately 885 feet (270 meters) long and is 121 feet (37 meters) across at its widest (also known as the beam), based on available satellite imagery. There is a superstructure at the bow end with clear wings for a large bridge and a mast on top. There is also a separate superstructure at the stern end with exhaust stacks situated in front of it. 

………

At-sea replenishment, in general, is a critical capability for any major navy that desires to conduct sustained blue water operations without having to rely on friendly ports. Even during peacetime in the broad expanses of the Pacific, port facilities of any kind, let alone ones capable of supporting large warships, can be few and far between and under direct threat. 

Ecch (Tweet) of the Day

Between the lame FF(X), the F/A-XX games and the battleship effwittery, all I can say is that the last time anyone screwed the Navy as hard as Mango Musso, Kegs, and the Ruler Of The Queen's Navee are doing, the Navy had to get the Air Force to take him out. pic.twitter.com/i1kL6zoII5

— Bill Sweetman (@ValkStrategy) April 22, 2026

Mr. Sweetman, you just won the internet.

This is f%$#ing brilliant. 

Today in Failed OpSec

I am not sure what the most important role to ensure security on a war ship, not I'm pretty sure that number 2 on the list is promptly check your physical mail for GPS trackers.

Militaries around the world spend countless hours training, developing policies, and implementing best operational security practices, so imagine the size of the egg on the face of the Dutch navy when journalists managed to track one of its warships for less than the cost of some hagelslag and a coffee.

The security snafu was reported by Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Gelderland. In a Thursday report, Omroep Gelderland journalist Just Vervaart said the broadcaster was able to track HNLMS Evertsen, a Dutch air-defense frigate deployed to help protect France’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle against missile threats, by mailing a Bluetooth tracker concealed in a postcard to the ship.

Per Vervaart, the Dutch Ministry of Defence makes it easy to send mail and packages to soldiers and sailors in the Dutch armed forces and posts full instructions online. It's that freely available open-source intelligence data that Vervaart was able to use to send the tracker to the Evertsen. 

 Oopsie!

About the DPRK's Nuclear Submarine

Official Photo of Kim Jung Un reviewing the submarine We have a report on the as yet unnamed 8,700 ton displacement boat, which is claimed to carry submarine launched domestic missiles.

It appears that the submarine is nearly complete from the fact that it has already received its anti-corrosion paint.

The weight of 8,700 tons, (probably metric tonnes) is about the same as a Virginia class boat, which is small for a modern SSBN.

One of the notable things is the extremely long sail, which implies that much like its predecessor, the Sinpo Class, and like the Soviet Golf and Hotel classes.

My guess would be that there are 6-8 missile tubes, and like the Sinpo, and unlike the Golf and Hotel, it is likely to be able to conduct underwater launches.

As to the effect on the frozen conflict on the Korean Peninsula, nothing until it is deployed, and perhaps a bit more stability after that, because Pyongyang will feel less vulnerable, assuming that it works as intended.

That's actually a big assumption, because this sub is about four times the displacement of their prior submarines. 

 

How Small is His Penis?

Because declaring a new ship class to be a "Battleship", (it isn't one) and naming the class after yourself seems to indicate profound feelings of inadequacy.

The entire concept of a 30,000 ton surface combatant is absurd. 

First, given the fiascos of the Zumwalt's, Littoral Combat Ships, and the Constellation Class frigates, it is unlikely that this would progress beyond the laying of a keel.

Second, this is not a battleship.  It is armed with 5 inch rifled guns, which is well under the firepower of any ship called a battleship.

It is public masturbation masquerading as defense acquisition. 

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Donald Trump has announced plans for the US navy to build a new generation of warships – known as “Trump-class”.

The ships will be bigger, faster and a hundred times more powerful than any previous US-built warship, the president said on Monday. The project will begin with construction of two such battleships and eventually be expanded to 20 to 25 new vessels.

John Phelan, the navy secretary, added: “Our adversaries will know, when the Trump-class USS Defiant appears on the horizon, American victory at sea is inevitable.”

Past battleship classes were typically named after US states. But Trump, whose name already adorns many hotels and golf clubs, is currently on what critics describe as a narcissistic spree.

Narcissistic spree?  Ya think?

I will note that the Chinese have no chance of sinking any of the Trump Class ships, because you cannot sink vaporware.

This has as much credibility as Trump's tax returns. 

This is Manifestly a War Crime

Remember when I said that the obligation of servicemen to refuse illegal orders required that the order be, "Manifestly Illegal?"

The classic example of a war crime, both in US military training materials and in international protocols is machine gunning survivors of a ship sinking, whether floating in the water or on a life boat.

This is manifestly illegal, and Hesketh ordered it, SOCOM commander Admiral Frank Bradley relayed the order to command officers in the area, and everyone in the chain of this command, including whoever pulled the trigger, is guilty of a war crime.

So is anyone who had the opportunity to protest these manifestly illegal orders and did nothing .

This is not up for dispute. 

We executed German U-Boat sailors following WWII for doing this. 

Officials in Congress and the Pentagon said Monday they are increasingly concerned that the Trump administration intends to scapegoat the military officer who directed U.S. forces to kill two survivors of a targeted strike on suspected drug smugglers in Latin America, as lawmakers made initial moves to investigate whether the attack constituted a war crime.

The Washington Post reported exclusively Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill the entire crew of a vessel thought to be ferrying narcotics in the Caribbean Sea, the first of nearly 20 such strikes directed by the administration since early September.

When two survivors were detected, the military commander overseeing the operation, Adm. Frank M. Bradley, directed another strike to comply with Hegseth’s order that no one be left alive, people with direct knowledge of the matter told The Post. The Trump administration has said 11 people were killed as a result of the operation.

In addition to prosecuting everyone even remotely in the decision chain for this, perhaps breaking up SOCOM, which has had a spate of criminality in its ranks in the past few years would be advisable.

All the Chinese Have to Do Is Wait for Us to Destroy Ourselves

It's gotten to the point that the US Navy cannot develop ships any larger than a dinghy. 

Case in the point the recently canceled Constellation-class Frigate Program.

They took an existing platform, the FREMM, which has over 20 ships in service and almost 60 planned for eventual service, and decided to load it up with every bell and whistle that they could think of, resulting in delays, immature technologies, and ballooning cost and weight.

So only the 2 which have been laid down will be built, and the rest have been canceled. 

The Navy is walking away from the Constellation-class frigate program to focus on new classes of warships the service can build faster, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced Tuesday on social media.

Under the terms negotiated with shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Wisconsin shipyard will continue to build Constellation (FFG-62) and Congress (FFG-63) but will cancel the next four planned warships.

“We are reshaping how the Navy builds its fleet. Today, I can announce the first public action is a strategic shift away from the Constellation-class frigate program,” reads the statement from Phelan. “The Navy and our industry partners have reached a comprehensive framework that terminates, for the Navy’s convenience, the last four ships of the class, which have not begun construction.”

………

The Navy awarded the contract to build what would become the Constellation to Marinette in 2020 following about six years of deliberation after the Navy determined it would truncate the two classes of Littoral Combat Ships. Marinette previously built the Freedoms as a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin before competing for the frigate program on its own. The Navy decided that the competitors to base the warship on an existing parent design to speed up the design of the program. The Navy selected the FREMM multi-mission frigate, already operated by the French and Italian navies, as the parent via a Naval Sea Systems Command rapid requirements process.

However, once the complex design work commenced, the Navy and Marinette had to make vast changes to the design in order to meet stricter U.S. survivability standards. The delays resulted in an estimated three-year setback in the delivery of the first ship from 2026 to 2029 at a cost of about $1.5 billion.

The US Military Industrial Complex is a bigger threat to US security than the Soviet Union was at the height of the Cold War. 

And the Spanish Armada Gets Boned Again

According to reports from El Pais, (translation here) the Spanish government is ending its plans to buy the F-35 from the United States.

Instead, it will buy some European fighter aircraft instead, most likely the Eurofighter Typhoon or the in-development Future Combat Air System.

This is a problem for Spain's aircraft carrier, the Juan Carlos, since it is a STOVL carrier, with a ramp in the front and no arresting gear, and as it stands now, it will not be able to maintain its AV-8B Harriers much longer.

In order to accommodate something like the Rafale-M, they would need to add an arrester gear and angled flight deck, which is a significant rebuild.

The purchase of F-35 Lightning II aircraft, the fifth-generation American stealth fighter, for the Spanish Armed Forces has been definitively shelved, according to a report published by the Spanish newspaper El País, citing government sources.

Preliminary contacts that had already begun have been suspended indefinitely. Although the government approved a 10.471 billion Euro plan last April and has committed to spending 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on security and defense, the decision to invest 85% of these funds in Europe is considered incompatible with acquiring an American aircraft.

………

Spain’s defense ministry never moved beyond a non-binding RFI (Request For Information) for the Lightning II. The 2023 budget even penciled in 6.25 billion Euro for “replacement aircraft for the AV-8B and C-15M, phase 2” (in other words, the Navy’s Harriers and the Air Force’s remaining F-18 Hornets). Looks like those plans are now scrapped.

That leaves the Armada (Navy) in a corner. The AV-8Bs are expected to be retired by 2030, and extending their service is no longer realistic: the aircraft are aging, and with both the USMC and Italian Navy phasing theirs out (and replacing them with the F-35B), Spain would be left as the only operator, facing a vanishing spares market. The only viable STOVL replacement is the F-35B. Passing on it would mean the Juan Carlos I loses its fixed-wing fast jet capability and reverts to helicopters only.

Spanish Armada has a problem.

Maybe they could license the Yak 141 from Russia.

Maybe Lockheed-Martin Rat-F%^$#ery

A British F-35B experienced mechanical problems and was forced to land in India.

It now appears that they cannot fix the aircraft on site, and so they will have to pull it apart and ship it back to the UK. 

This seems a bit extrema, and I'm inclined to believe that Lockheed-Martin's death grip on maintenance for the aircraft is responsible for this.

Either the maintainers do not know how to repair the system, or are not allowed to repair the system because of LM restrictions 

Otherwise, you could just fly parts in and fix it:

The UK’s F-35B fighter jet, currently grounded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala, couldn't be repaired on-site and is now likely to be dismantled, CNN-News18 reported, citing top government sources

According to the sources, the British Navy is sending a larger aircraft to transport the jet and has assured that all dues — including parking and hangar fees — will be settled with India, the report claimed.

I think that this sort of crap is why Boeing got the "F-47" contract.

The USAF does not want to deal with the Lockheed-Martin IP roach motel maintenance model.

How Unbelievably Petty

It looks like everyone's favorite drunkard, Pete Hegseth, is trying to remove Harvey Milk’s name from the replenishment ship (T-AO-206) that bears his name.

They are also looking at removing the names of Harriet Tubman (Because they are pro slavery), Medgar Evars (Because they support the assassination of uppity n*****s), Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cezar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Suffragette Lucy Stone.

The Trump White House is occupied by nothing but small pathetic people.

Maybe They Don't Like the Roach Motel Model of Defense Procurement

Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Business Model

It appears that Lockheed-Martin has been removed from the running for the US Navy's next generation fighter.

My guess would be is that the US Navy has not been satisfied with the F-35, and I don't think that it has much to do with aerodynamic performance, but the fact that Lockheed developed a system where it is impossible for a military service to operate the aircraft on its own.

There is a web of IP and software that requires the aircraft to phone home on a daily basis, and much of the work can only be done by L-M, all while the defense contractor collects its vig.

This sucks for the taxpayer, but it sucks even worse for the Navy, where they may be operating in the middle of nowhere, and they have to wait for an overpriced Lockheed technician to fly out to fix this.

This is a John Deere tractor on an aircraft carrier 1000 miles from land. 

I would note that this is just supposition on my part, but it seems to me to be the most likely reason for this decision, particularly since Lockheed still appears to be in the running for the USAF's next fighter aircraft:

Lockheed Martin is out of the running for the Navy’s sixth-generation fighter jet program, known as Next Generation Air Dominance or F/A-XX, Breaking Defense has learned.

A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid to the Navy, but the proposal did not satisfy the service’s criteria. The company is now no longer proceeding with the bid. The Navy previously told Breaking Defense in November that the service was evaluating proposals, but it is unclear when Lockheed was knocked out of the competition. 

………

Lockheed, which cornered the market on fifth-generation fighters through its ubiquitous F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor, still has a shot to build a sixth-generation jet through the Air Force’s separate fighter competition, also known as Next Generation Air Dominance, where the company is facing off against Boeing. 

It is possible that the Navy lacked confidence in L-M's ability to smoothly integrate their new aircraft onto a carrier deck, there were problems with both the F-35 and the S-3 in this regard.

Given the history of Boeing (McDonnell-Douglas) and Northrop (Grumman), the USN may be more confident in the ability of these companies to execute, but given the stress that the Navy is placing on open architecture, my guess is that operational autonomy is what is driving this decision.

It's a Fart Story, so I Write About It, OK?

It appears that the Royal Navy went on high alert in response to whale farts.

Burritos need to be kept far away from the Royal Navy:

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom started a frenzied hunt for phantom Russians off the coast after hearing two weird sounds in the water, only to discover that the noises were caused by a gassy whale, an official told The Sun.

Naval authorities were concerned that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drone submarines had placed a listening device on the ocean floor between two Scottish islands, launching an inquiry.

The two toots were discovered around 100 miles from where the UK’s doomsday submarines are located.

“We have been analyzing the sounds and now believe it was a marine mammal. A whale” the officer informed the British tabloid.

The sound, initially identified by analysts as a man-made noise, had never before been detected by the sensors, causing the navy to misinterpret Das Boof for Das Boot, according to the article.

Not to toot my own horn (no apologies for that turn of phrase), but I like to think of myself as the go to source for flatulence related news.

Can't Make Ships

The Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyer is an old ship.

The first of the class entered was laid down in 1988.

After the failures of the Zumwalt class destroyer and the Littoral Combat Ship, the Navy is acquiring more Burkes, and the costs are skyrocketing.

The U.S. Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyers are facing cost increases and delays, jumping from an average of $2.1 billion per ship to $2.5 billion per hull, with even steeper cost increases coming in the future, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. The report analyzes the Navy’s 2025 shipbuilding plan, which calls for a 390-battle force ship fleet by 2054, and includes nine more vessels than in last year’s plan.

Beyond destroyers, the versatile workhorses of the Navy’s combat fleet, the CBO’s assessment notes cost hikes among other platforms, as well as systemic American shipbuilding industry shortfalls that could impede the service’s fleet size goal. All this long-term planning comes as the sea service races to prepare for a near-term war with China if Beijing invades Taiwan in the coming years. These destroyers and their anti-air, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities would be crucial to such a future fight.

The Navy currently has 74 destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class, in Flight I, Flight II, Flight IIA and Flight III variants. Two Flight IIAs and 18 Flight IIIs are already either under construction or their purchase has already been authorized by Congress. CBO’s assessment also found that, overall, the 23 Flight IIIs laid out in the 30-year shipbuilding plan will end up costing $2.7 billion on average.

“The Navy stated in a briefing to CBO and [the Congressional Research Service] that the increase in its estimates of the cost of the DDG-51 Flight IIIs was attributable to shipbuilding inflation’s outpacing economywide inflation as well as declining shipyard performance,” the CBO report states.

"Declining shipyard performance," huh?

That's bureaucrat-speak for the shipyards can't build properly any more.

Rather unsurprisingly, this increase in cost has been accompanied by a schedule slippage.

Time is money, so missing schedule means busting the budget.

The military industrial complex is running on fumes.

Going Old School

For the first time in decades, a US Navy Ship, the  USS Essex (LHD-2) navigated from Oahu to San Diego entirely through celestial navigation.

This technique, which came to its full fruit in the mid 1700s, when marine chronometers became accurate enough to allow its use, has largely fallen by the wayside in these days of GPS and other navigational aids.

Kind of cool:

In February 2022, just a few miles off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, all electronic navigation systems on the bridge of the USS Essex (LHD-2) went dark. The bridge team shifted to navigating by celestial fixes plotted on paper charts. Five days and more than 1,800 nautical miles later, the Essex arrived off the coast of San Diego, California, on time and on track.

A casualty did not cause this to happen. With the approval of the Essex’s commanding officer (CO), Captain Kelly Fletcher, her navigator (coauthor and then–Lieutenant Commander Stanton), and the lead navigation instructor from Surface Warfare Schools Command in Newport, Rhode Island (coauthor Walter O’Donnell), the Essex tested its own proof-of-concept for navigating with a total loss of integrated electronic navigation equipment. Any navigation equipment that used electricity was prohibited, including all GPS sources, the Essex’s electronic Voyage Management System (VMS), and the computer-based celestial navigation software STELLA.

Celestial navigation competence was still necessary just a generation ago. The practice waned with the advent of more sophisticated and precise electronic navigation solutions; yet, as U.S. adversaries’ cyber and electronic warfare capabilities advanced, analog navigation techniques became relevant again. However, it is still rare for a Navy warship to intentionally operate without its electronic navigation suite. As The American Practical Navigator (aka “Bowditch”) states, “No navigator should ever become completely dependent on electronic methods. The navigator who regularly navigates by blindly pushing buttons and reading the coordinates from ‘black boxes’ will not be prepared to use basic principles to improvise solutions in an emergency.”

I wonder if they used a mechanical chronometer for this?  Probably not.

If This Weren't Typical, It Would Be Laughable

The Navy has a program to modernize its Aegis Cruisers (Ticonderoga Class), and as is typical for all US defense procurement efforts, it is not going well:

This week the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a groundbreaking report on the lessons and failures of the Cruiser Modernization program, building on the statements of U.S. Navy officials throughout the program’s history.

The Cruiser Modernization program was initiated as a result of the Navy’s intent to begin decommissioning the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser fleet. The retirement of the first seven Ticonderoga-class cruisers was proposed in 2012. Congress rejected this proposal and provided funds to modernize the fleet of Ticonderoga-class cruisers, marking the start of the Cruiser Modernization program that would last nearly 15 years.

………

After back-and-forth between the U.S. Navy and Congress regarding specifics of the Phased Modernization Plan submitted as part of the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2015, the U.S. Navy adopted a “2-4-6” strategy. According to the GAO, this strategy consisted of the following:

“A total of 11 cruisers [modernized] over 10 years by inducting no more than 2 cruisers each year into modernization cycles, for up to 4 years in modernization, and with no more than 6 cruisers undergoing modernization at the same time.”Government Accountability Report on the Cruiser Modernization program

………

The entire Cruiser Modernization plan proved to be a failure for the U.S. Navy. 

………

According to the GAO, the main point of failure in the Cruiser Modernization program was a lack of long-term planning and preparation for such a complex task. The program experienced over 9,000 contract changes, resulting in delays and scope creep that made modernization extremely difficult for contractors and U.S. Navy inspectors. Little to no preparation was done in the planning, and no alternatives were considered.

………

The original cost for the modernization of five Ticonderoga-class cruisers, the USS Cowpens, USS Vicksburg, USS Gettysburg, USS Chosin, and USS Cape St. George, was estimated at $2.44 billion. According to GAO findings, the cost of this estimate grew by 36%, or nearly $881 million.

Schedule delays also marred the program. Cruiser Modernization had a planned modernization period of four years, as part of the 2-4-6 plan, but actual modernization periods that stretched between 3 years to 5 years, with each ship unique in its needs for modernization and repair. Four ships brought into their modernization periods were never completed; USS Hué City, USS Anzio, USS Cowpens, and USS Vicksburg.

………

The U.S. Navy spent nearly $4 billion to modernize three Ticonderoga-class cruisers, giving those cruisers a cumulative 10 years of service life extension to 2030. The most recent extension was announced by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro in early November. Naval News detailed the final breakdown of the Ticonderoga-class cruiser fleet here.

Of that $4 billion total, $1.84 billion was spent on four cruisers that never returned to the fleet. If the U.S. Navy moved ahead with the completion of modernization of one of those four cruisers, the USS Cowpens, it would take at least $88 million and an additional three years of drydock work according to the Surface Ship Modernization Program Office.

And people wonder why the Russia out-produces the United States in artillery shells despite having a GDP roughly 1/15 that of the US.

The US defense procurement system is completely broken.