What you need to know: The U.S. Navy faces significant challenges as it seeks to extend the life of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in order to maintain its fleet of eleven aircraft carriers despite Ford-class production delays. Originally designed for a 50-year lifespan, many Nimitz transporters are reaching their limits, with modernization complicated by unscheduled repairs, including significant damage to steam turbines.

-The USS George Washington and USS John C. Stennis, both undergoing lengthy overhauls, experienced significant delays, straining the Navy’s deployment schedules.

-In addition, poor living conditions for sailors aboard ships undergoing renovation, such as the George Washington, led to serious morale problems, including several sailor suicides, raising urgent concerns.

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier expansions: delays and challenges for the US Navy

The U.S. Navy has been forced to rely on its Nimitz-class aircraft carriers for longer than expected. THE Nimnitz classwhich debuted in 1975, has a lifespan of fifty years. For the namesake ship, the first USS Nimitz to be commissioned, that fifty-year threshold is fast approaching. The remaining Nimitz carriers have been deployed over a thirty-five year period, and now many others are also approaching their fifty-year threshold.

Yet the Navy was slow to produce the Nimitz’s replacement, the Ford class. To date, only one Ford class, the USS Gerald R. Fordhas been put into service, while a second is in preparation. To maintain current fleet levels of eleven active aircraft carriers, the US Navy is working to extend the life of its Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

The process did not go smoothly.

Why extend?

The Pentagon is committed to maintaining current levels of its carrier fleet. One could argue that the U.S. Navy does not need eleven supercarriers. Barry Posen, advocate of restraint measures argues that seven to nine supercarriers would likely be sufficient to address all of the United States’ national security concerns. But the Pentagon obviously thinks otherwise, with flare-ups in the Middle East and rising tensions across the Indo-Pacific no doubt partly inspiring the commitment to maintain current fleet levels. Ford class delays are undoubtedly another reason.

The next USS Enterprise, the third Ford-class carrier, will be delayed eighteen months.

“Nimitz expansion, Ike expansion, this is going to happen for every Nimitz-class carrier. At least one extension,” Vice Admiral Kenneth Whitesell said last year.

Still, the Nimitz expansions didn’t go smoothly. Delays in the modernization process are common.

“Significant delays in mid-life refueling and complex overhauls of two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers were due to damage to the steam turbines that power the ship,” the US Naval Institute (USNI) said. reported. The two aircraft carriers in question were the USS George Washington and the USS John C. Stennis. Each carrier was supposed to undergo a four-year overhaul. But it took Washington nearly six years; the Stennis will need five and a half.

“The change in the re-delivery schedule of the (Stennis) is primarily a reflection of growth work discovered after the vessel’s arrival at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) and subsequent challenges within the supply base,” said Huntington Ingall’s Industries (HII) NNS. said in a statement. “We are applying the lessons learned from George Washington and John C. Stennis to what we do to prepare the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) for replenishment and complex overhaul”

The delays have complicated the Navy’s ability to deploy aircraft carriers and have also degraded the quality of life for sailors aboard ships being modernized; a 2023 Navy investigation found that sailors aboard the George Washington “endured some of the harshest living conditions of any member of the military.” Several Washington sailors committed suicide.

About the author:

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with more than 1,000 total articles on issues related to global affairs. A lawyer, pilot, guitarist, and minor professional hockey player, Harrison joined the United States Air Force as a trainee pilot, but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MS from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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