The Navy has given up on the never-ending overhaul of the attack submarine USS Boise

The US Navy has abandoned plans to withdraw Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Boise On active duty. This brings to an end the saga of the boat’s yet-to-be-completed major overhaul, which has now lasted more than a decade. In that time, it has become a poster child for the Navy’s troubling struggle to address massive maintenance backlogs, along with major concerns about the availability, or lack, of naval shipyard capacity in the United States.

The Navy announced the decision to decommission Boise, which was first commissioned into service in 1992 before today.

“After a rigorous, data-driven analysis, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to deactivate the USS. Boise“Navy Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, the service’s top official, said in a statement. “This strategic move allows us to reallocate America’s highly-skilled workforce to one of our highest priorities: new distribution Virginia and Colombia Class submarines and improve the readiness of the current fleet. We owe it to our Sailors and the nation to make these tough calls to build a more capable and ready Navy. “

“This move is part of the Navy’s broader, data-driven initiative to optimize the composition of the fleet, ensuring that every dollar is invested in capabilities that directly contribute to maintaining a decisive warfighting advantage,” the service also said in a press release. “Funding and Personnel Related to the Planned Overhaul of the USS Boise America’s submarine capability will be redirected to support other naval priorities, including timely delivery.

To date, the Navy has spent about $800 million on Boise’s overhaul, which is still only 22 percent complete, the service said separately. Traffic lights. The total estimated cost to complete the overhaul had reached $3 billion, according to Fox News.

“At some point, you cut your losses and move on,” Navy Secretary John Phelan also said Fox News In an interview ahead of today’s announcement. “The Boise Represents 65% of the cost of new Virginia class submarine, but it only offers 20% of the remaining service life.”

The Navy originally planned Boise To begin its overhaul in 2013, but the schedule was repeatedly delayed, mainly due to lack of shipyard availability. The submarine has not been to sea since returning from its last cruise in January 2015. By 2016 the boat was deemed unable to operate normally, and the following year it formally lost its diver certification.

Navy moved Boise from her home port in Norfolk, Virginia to the Newport News Shipbuilding facility in 2018. Newport News Shipbuilding is a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).

The submarine returned to Norfolk the following year amid competing funding priorities. It returned to Newport News in 2020, but did not actually enter dry dock there until 2021, after which limited maintenance began. With a formal agreement only signed in 2024, a full overhaul was set back further due to budget issues.

As of last year, the Navy was still pushing for completion Boiseoverhaul and return it to the fleet, which is expected to take place in 2029. At that point, the submarine had spent more than a third of its service life in port.

The overall size of the navy Los Angeles The attack submarine force has steadily declined over the years, as the service has become more modern and capable. Virginia class types. The Navy commissioned 62 Los Angeles Class boats between 1976 and 1996, and 23 are still in service today.

As mentioned, struggle with the navy Boise are reflective of larger and more serious issues that have long challenged the service’s ability to meet peacetime operational demands. Back in 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report that the Navy had more than two decades of operational downtime in its submarine fleets due to lack of maintenance.

These are concerns that will only be magnified if large-scale conflict, particularly with China, breaks out in the Pacific. over the years, TWZ Alarms are also sounding on the interrelated issue of declining U.S. naval shipbuilding capacity, generally, where the disparity with Chinese state-run enterprises has widened.

The Navy, with support from Congress, has been trying to take steps to reverse these trends in recent years, including moving to leverage growing foreign shipyard capacity. The second Trump administration, through Navy Secretary Phelan, has been particularly open about its efforts to shake up how the service acquires and maintains ships, and otherwise conducts business across the board. It has notably already included cancellations Constellation class frigate program, which was beset by major delays and ballooning costs, as you can read in detail here. The Navy is trying to avoid similar problems with new shipbuilding programs such as the FF(X) frigate and medium landing ship.

“I think, by killing these programs, it’s sending a message that we’re not going to continue to send good money after bad investments, and we’re going to try to make prudent financial decisions that are in the best interest of the fleet and the force,” Phelan said, speaking generally around today’s announcement. BoiseAccording to Traffic lights.

How the Navy fares in its broader efforts when it comes to shipbuilding and maintenance remains to be seen, but the U.S.S. BoiseThe increasingly tragic story is coming to an end.

UPDATE: 2:10 PM EDT –

Todd Corillo, HII spokesman for the Newport News Shipbuilding Division, has now provided TWZ with the following statement:

“We have been informed of the US Navy’s decision to cease Engineer Overhaul (EOH) work on the USS. Boise (SSN 764). We will work with the Navy to implement this decision in an efficient, cost-effective manner. We expect that there will be no impact on our workforce and that the shipbuilders currently assigned to the USS will transition. Boise For other work going on at Newport News Shipbuilding.

“We understand the importance of a strong submarine force to our national security. In our work on the USS Boise will end, our commitment to ensuring our nation will not maintain maritime supremacy under our seas.”

Contact the author: joe@twz.com