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A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis found sustainment challenges worsened from 2011 to 202 over 10 ship classes. GAO identified the worsening sustainment issues include “increasing depot maintenance delays, growing numbers of cannibalizations and casualty reports, and fewer hours that ships were steaming. Additionally, other metrics the Navy has identified as key—operational availability and materiel availability—have not been fully used to assess ship readiness.” Maintenance cannibalization is when working parts are removed and reused due to a shortage of…
