【By Observer Net, Shanmao】
According to USNI News, two future "America"-class amphibious assault ships will face a delay of about one year, namely the third ship LHA-8 "Bougainville," which is currently in outfitting, and the fourth ship LHA-9 "Fallujah," which is under construction on the slipway.
The 2026 fiscal year U.S. Navy budget document shows that the "Bougainville" ship, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), was previously scheduled for delivery this October, now postponed to August next year. In previous years, the ship has already experienced at least two delays, first from the end of 2023 to February 2025, due to the discovery of a main reducer manufacturing defect and a lack of construction personnel. With this delay and the replacement of the air search radar, the cost of the ship also increased by $68 million. The delivery plan for October this year was already another extension. As for the "Fallujah" ship, originally expected to be delivered in September 2029, it has been delayed to September 2030. The budget document listed "shipyard labor shortages and the resulting unsatisfactory construction progress" as the main reasons for the delay of these two warships. A U.S. Navy spokesperson said in a statement sent to USNI News that they are working with Huntington Ingalls Industries to ensure early delivery and the formation of combat capability.
(Source photo) The "Bougainville" amphibious assault ship, being outfitted in August last year, has not conducted its first sea trial nearly two years after launching
The "Bougainville" is the first ship of the Flight I batch of the "America" class after major design modifications. This ship signed the procurement contract in 2016, laid the keel on March 14, 2019, and launched on October 6, 2023. However, before launching, on June 30, there was a fire in the island part of the ship, causing six people to be slightly injured; the "Fallujah" is the second ship, signed the construction contract on October 27, 2022, and laid the keel on September 20, 2023. Starting from the "Bougainville," the stern well deck, which had been canceled on the "America" and "Tripoli" ships, was restored. At the same time, the island structure was adjusted, and part of the flight deck was expanded to compensate for the loss of aviation facilities and hangar space occupied by the well deck. Additionally, starting from this ship, subsequent "America" class ships will use a rotating single AN/SPY-6(V)2 radar instead of the original AN/APS-48G air search radar.
Compared to the basic model of the "America" class (top image), the Flight I batch (bottom image, official model at the 2024 U.S. Navy surface ship conference) clearly added an additional right-side deck and removed the weapon platform in front of the island
Due to the delay in the "Bougainville" ship's schedule, the construction time for a "large deck amphibious warship" has approached eight years, and the "Fallujah" ship has reached seven years. On the other hand, HII company stated that they hope the U.S. Navy would start building an amphibious assault ship every four years to ensure a healthy and stable workforce and supply chain. HII spokesperson Kimberly Aguilera stated that they are working with amphibious assault ship suppliers and the U.S. Navy to accelerate technological integration and improve construction efficiency to mitigate the impact of project delays. Previously, the construction speed of the "Wasp" class amphibious ships by Ingalls Shipbuilding (measured from laying the keel to delivery) was typically only four years, with the exception of the last ship LHD-8 "Makin Island," which used gas turbines as power units for the first time instead of steam turbines using fuel oil boilers in other ships of the same class, leading to a construction period close to six years.
The last "Wasp" class LHD-8 "Makin Island" had an extended construction period compared to other ships of the same class because it used gas turbines as the power system
The construction speed of the first "America" class ship LHA-6 "America" was faster than the "Makin Island," taking 4 years and 8 months from laying the keel to delivery, but still longer than other "Wasp" class ships. As for the latest commissioned LHA-7 "Tripoli," it took 5 years and 8 months, and its delivery time was delayed by several months compared to the original plan. According to the report, labor shortage is the most direct challenge facing the shipyard, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the retirement of senior technical workers has further exacerbated the talent shortage, and the service industry is also competing with the shipyard for labor.
Last December, a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) pointed out that the readiness rate of the U.S. Navy's amphibious vessels was only 46%, below the minimum readiness standard of 50%. Due to poor ship conditions and delayed maintenance work, the availability of the amphibious fleet was seriously affected. On the other hand, in recent years, the decision to retire ships before their retirement age and without approval from the Congressional Defense Committee led to the abandonment of key maintenance, further accelerating the deterioration of the ships' condition. An example is the LHD-4 "Boxer" which had problems with the main shaft and the starboard rudder, forced to return to port shortly after deployment on April 1, and did not resume operations until mid-July. According to a report in April this year, the U.S. Navy has initiated a pilot program requiring ships to lock in maintenance plans more than a year in advance to give defense contractors more time to procure parts and prepare for construction, thereby reducing potential maintenance chaos and delays.
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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7525360961680343562/
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