Assessment of Surface Ship Maintenance Requirements2015

The Department of Defense is likely to face years of declining resources as the U.S. government grapples with fiscal challenges. These challenges affect every account, including those associated with surface ship maintenance and operations. At the same time, there has been widespread concern that surface ship materiel readiness is declining due to a high pace of operations and a sense that there have been many instances of deferred maintenance. The need to balance fiscal reality and a continued need for ready ships is likely to be an ongoing challenge. At the request of the Assessment Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, this report: (1) determines the impact on long-term fleet readiness, Operational Availability (Ao), and Expected Service Life (ESL) caused by near-term...