미해군, 개조작업중인 순양함을 퇴역시켜 18억 4천만 달러 낭비

[위종민]

애초 타이콘데로가급 순양함 11척을 현대화하려다가 7척만 실제 근대화 개장에 들어갔는데, 근대화작업 중 이런전런 문제로 그 중 3척만 남기고 4척을 조기퇴역시켜 4척의 개장에 들어간 비용 18억 4천만 달러가 낭비됐다고 GAO가 지적했네요. 획득 프로그램이 아니라서 일반적인 계획 및 감독 절차가 적용되지 않았다고 합니다. 

GAO: Navy ‘Wasted’ $1.84 Billion in Repairs to Cruisers Cut from the Fleet - USNI News

GAO: Navy ‘Wasted’ $1.84 Billion in Repairs to Cruisers Cut from the Fleet

Sam LaGrone

December 17, 2024 7:27 PM

USS Anzio (CG-68) pier-side at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on April 7, 2022. USNI News Photo

An ambitious 12-year plan to modernize the Navy’s aging guided-missile Ticonderoga-class cruiser fleet wasted $1.84 billion in attempting to fix ships that the service ultimately chose to decommission, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday.

The Senate-ordered investigation into the phased cruiser modernization plan found that since 2015, the service spent $3.7 billion to modernize seven cruisers and will only successfully deliver three back to the fleet.

“The Navy has divested four of the cruisers prior to finishing modernization and without providing any operational value to the Navy, thereby wasting the $1.84 billion already spent to modernize them. The Navy decided to divest these ships, in part, due to a lack of funding to finish them, according to Navy officials,” reads the GAO report.
“The three ships that have completed or are planned to complete modernization were scheduled for only one deployment before the Navy planned to divest them, however it has now extended their service lives and plans to decommission them in fiscal year 2030.”

GAO Graphic

The phased modernization plan was born in 2012 after Congress denied a request from the service to decommission cruisers early. Instead, the Navy proposed operating 11 of the cruisers and then parking the rest before inducting them into a modernization program that would keep the ships sailing into the 2030s. In 2017, the Navy elected to remove four from the program, leaving seven.

Tuesday’s report provides new details on the overall failure of the program to meet cost and schedule. The GAO found that the service provided limited oversight and some contractors performed poorly.

The report focused on the seven cruisers the service inducted into modernization from 2015 to 2019 —USS Cowpens (CG-63), USS Gettysburg (CG-64), USS Vicksburg (CG-69), USS Chosin (CG-65), USS Anzio (CG-68), USS Cape St. George and USS Hué City (CG-66).

Of the seven, Gettysburg and Chosin have completed their modernization periods. Cape St. George is wrapping its own modernization. Only Gettysburg has deployed.

The Navy poured almost $2 billion into the other four ships in the program.

In 2022, the Navy decommissioned Hué City and Anzio after spending $161.2 million on Hué City and $250.54 million on Anzio. In 2024, the Navy decommissioned Cowpens and Vicksburg after spending $678.56 million on Cowpens and $754.1 million on Vicksburg.

In its report, the GAO cited ineffective oversight from the Navy, incomplete planning and poor performance from contractors as reasons for the growth in cost.

“Even though the Navy used more than $2 billion of procurement funding for cruiser modernization, it did not implement planning and oversight tools typical of high dollar major defense acquisition programs following the major capability acquisition pathways because it is not an acquisition program,” reads the report.

Instead of normal modernizations where ships are still overseen by the fleet and the type commanders, the cruisers in modernization fell under Naval Sea Systems Command, making oversight difficult and chains of command muddled, according to the report.

“The Navy experienced challenges overseeing its maintenance and modernization efforts for cruisers and other surface ships, in part, because key stakeholders do not have clear roles for coordinating complex work packages during maintenance and modernization periods,” reads the report.
“The cruiser modernization effort’s oversight and management are unique compared to how the Navy typically oversees other surface ship maintenance and modernization. When each ship was inducted into or entered cruiser modernization, the control and responsibility of the ship— along with responsibility for allocating and disbursing funding—was transferred from the fleet (Surface Forces Atlantic or Surface Forces Pacific) to Naval Sea Systems Command. Control of the ships was transferred back to the fleet midway through each ship’s modernization, but NAVSEA remained responsible for completing the modernization effort, according to Navy officials.”

The GAO also found several instances in which a lack of oversight led to poor results from the contractor.

GAO Image

In the case of Vicksburg, while under repair at BAE Systems in Norfolk, Va., workers were unable to install a pressurized sleeve around the ship’s sonar known as a sonar window. The yard had repeatedly tried to install the window on the ship, damaging one window and unable to pressurize a second.

“The initial test failed, showing pressure loss was coming from large cables that run from the dome to other parts of the ship that are part of the degaussing system,” reads the report.
“According to Navy documentation, in attempting to correct the pressure loss, the contractor used unauthorized materials such as plastic wrap, tape with common store bought super glue, expanding foam and [an] as seen on television sealant product.”

Ultimately the Navy and the contractor decided to pull Vicksburg from the dry dock at BAE to allow another ship to start repairs.

“Because of these additional costs and the condition of the vessel, in its fiscal year 2024 President’s Budget Request, the Navy included the divestment of [Vicksburg]. According to the Navy, congressional decision makers did not oppose the divestment, and the Navy is proceeding with it,” reads the report.

GAO Image

BAE Systems acknowledged a request for comment from USNI News but did not immediately provide a statement.

The Navy decommissioned Vicksburg in June and Cowpens in August.

While the three ships have made it through the multi-million modernization process, it’s unclear how much longer they’ll remain in the fleet.

Last month, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the service would extend the lives of the three cruisers.

“In November 2024, the Navy extended the service lives of USS Gettysburg, USS Chosin, and USS Cape St. George. The Navy now plans to decommission all three ships in fiscal year 2030,” reads the GAO report.

Overall, the GAO had six recommendations to apply to future surface ship modernization.

“The Department of the Navy concurred with the GAO’s recommendations in the report and, as identified in the responses, are applying lessons learned to future maintenance and modernization efforts,” reads a Tuesday Navy statement provided to USNI News.

[Minowski(김유철)]

머스크가 제대로 일한다면 저런걸 잡아내고 개선책을 제시하겠습니다만, 아무리 합리적인 안이 나와도 저항도 만만치 않겠죠..,

[위종민]

해군장관 출신인 협상의 명인 FDR도 '해~군'을 아무리 두들기고 두들겨도 뒤돌아서면 그대로인 솜이불에 비유했는데, 머스크가 용빼는 재주 있더라도 정부와 군대 조직을 바꿀 수 있을까요? 힘들 것 같습니다.