Navy Surface Ships: Maintenance Funds and Actions Needed to Address Ongoing Challenges : Government Accountability Office (GAO) , January 31 , 2025
Navy Surface Ships: Maintenance Funds and Actions Needed to Address Ongoing Challenges : Government Accountability Office (GAO) , January 31 , 2025
From the report: “The Department of Defense (DOD) spends tens of billions of dollars annually to operate and maintain its weapon systems, including combat surface ships. Combat surface ships are seagoing vessels that provide sea-to-sea, sea-to-air, sea-to-ground, and missile defense capabilities. These ships are vital to the success of combat operations and homeland defense.
The Navy uses operation and maintenance (O&M) and other appropriated amounts to support operating the ships, including buying spare parts and conducting maintenance (see fig. 1). These amounts support the Navy’s readiness goals because ships require timely maintenance to allow for sufficient sailor training before deployment. In 2023, we found that from fiscal years 2011 through 2021, surface ships faced persistent and worsening sustainment challenges.
House Report 118-125, accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, includes a provision for us to review the sustainment budget for surface ships (H.R. Rep. No. 118-125, 107-108 (June 30, 2023)). This report provides information on how the Navy develops its funding requirements for sustaining combat surface ships; amounts requested and used for such ships’ maintenance during fiscal years 2020 through 2023 (the most recent data available during this review); and long-standing maintenance challenges the Navy faces.”
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