The Navy said Friday that it has delayed the mid-life refueling and overhaul of an aircraft carrier, saying it lacks the funding needed to begin work this fiscal year because Congress has not approved a budget.
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) will remain docked at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia rather than sail next week to nearby Huntington Ingalls Industries’ [HII] Newport News Shipbuilding yard for the nuclear refueling and overhaul, the Navy said.
The Nimitz-class (CVN-68) carrier will stay in Norfolk until Congress either passes an appropriations bill for fiscal 2013 that includes the funding, or funds the work by allowing an exception to the continuing resolution (CR) that is currently governing Pentagon spending, the Navy said. The CR keeps spending at roughly 2012 levels and forbids the Navy from beginning new work such as the refueling and overhaul of the Lincoln.
A Navy spokeswoman said the service would need $1.5 billion dollars for fiscal 2013 to begin the work on the ship. The overall cost of the 4-year refueling and overhaul is estimated to be $3.3 billion.
The Navy has warned that it would have to scale back maintenance work as well as other areas of operations if Congress keeps the Pentagon operating on a continuing resolution rather than passes a defense budget, or cannot avert sequestration before it is scheduled to kick in March 1.
The Navy last week postponed the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) carrier, as well as its air wing, and a cruiser to the Middle East, citing budgetary constraints (Defense Daily, Feb. 7, 2013).
Delaying work on the Lincoln will delay its return for the fleet, potentially disrupt the planned operations and maintenance schedules for other aircraft carriers, and could prove harmful for industrial base, the Navy said.
“The fiscal uncertainty created by not having an appropriations bill–and the measures we are forced to take as a result–place significant stress on an already strained force and undermines the stability of a fragile industrial base,” the Navy said.
“Canceling and deferring maintenance creates a significant backlog of deferred maintenance and affects future year schedules and cost, as well as future readiness,” the service said.
Christie Miller, a spokeswoman for Huntington Ingalls Industries, said it was undetermined whether the Lincoln delay will affect jobs at the yard, but added the company was “disappointed with this turn of events.”
“This delay is the direct result of the lack of a defense appropriations bill,” she said. “We’ve been very clear and consistent in our efforts to communicate the problems surrounding the lack of a defense appropriations bill for 2013.”
“While we continue to work hard to find a resolution, any delay in Lincoln’s arrival will clearly impact the efficiency of the original plan, and as the Navy has communicated, affect other carrier maintenance and the fleet’s future operational readiness,” she added.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), chairman of House Armed Services Committee seapower panel, lamented the delay as an example of how the “reckless and irresponsible defense cuts in Washington will have a long-term impact on the Navy’s ability to perform its missions.”