
The U.S. Navy plans to continue relying on private shipyards for scheduled submarine maintenance periods due to a work backlog at public shipyards, according to a service official.The Navy sought bids for the USS Columbus, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, to undergo a maintenance availability in fiscal year 2017, and it plans to do the same for at least two more submarines in FY 2018, said Vice Adm. Joseph Mulloy, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and…