
The Navy is planning to design and field two hulls under the Common Hull Auxiliary Multi-Mission Platform (CHAMP) program to fulfill its five main missions. Last year, the Navy started looking for a common replacement to various auxiliary ships that are approaching the end of their service lives, in part to help keep costs low (Defense Daily, Aug. 9, 2018). All of the auxiliary ships are older than 35 years and are scheduled for retirement starting in the mid-2020s. Although…