Defense secretary praised the crew of an attack submarine that hasn't been on a mission since 2015
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper visited the USS Boise on Wednesday, praising the crew for maintaining "readiness and lethality," even though the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine completed its most recent deployment in 2015.
The submarine hasn't deployed since 2015 and lost its certification to conduct unrestricted operations in 2016. From 2008 to 2018, US Navy attack subs spent 10,363 days in idle time or dealing with maintenance delays, and the Navy has spent $1.5 billion over that period to maintain attack subs that have no operational capability.
"The Boise has been waiting for repairs since its last deployment ended in 2015, and become the poster child for problems w/ Navy maintenance," journalist Paul McLeary tweeted Wednesday.
The Boise and two other Los Angeles-class submarines have long awaited repairs that the Navy doesn't have the capacity to perform, so the service has contracted the labor to private shipyards. Cornell told Insider that the Boise could go into repairs in spring 2020, but the contract for the private shipbuilder to perform the repair was still in negotiations.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/defense-secretary-praised-crew-attack-211205704.html
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