Foreign media: The U.S. Navy is pushing Asian allies such as Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines to have their shipyards undertake maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) work for its vessels, in order to sustain the combat readiness of forward-deployed fleets.
In July this year, after the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold suffered a propulsion failure in the South China Sea, it was towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines and emergency repairs were completed in just about 10 days. Although U.S. law mandates that major warships must be built domestically, there are relatively lenient restrictions on outsourcing maintenance, allowing foreign services for overseas-based vessels and certain domestically based vessels under specific conditions.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies pointed out that establishing repair capabilities near potential conflict zones in the Indo-Pacific could reduce the need to recall ships to the U.S., supporting longer-duration wartime deployments.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1875507927179276/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.