GAO: Ship delivery problems

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) “Navy Shipbuilding: Policy Changes Needed to Improve the Post-Delivery Process and Ship Quality” report released July 13 found a sample of Navy ships that showed how ships delivered to the fleet have incomplete work and quality problems. The GAO reviewed a non-generalized sample of eight ships, six of which had already entered the fleet; and two that have started post-delivery periods. The report was produced for the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. GAO chose a mix of ships - delivered in past five years or ones to be delivered in 2016 – that were built at multiple shipyards. All eight ships sampled will enter or likely enter the fleet with unfinished work or quality issues. The reviewed ships are valued at $6.3 billion. The GAO measured these ships using three quality assurance metrics identified by Navy. Six ships delivered to the Navy included the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) that was built at Avondale (La.) Shipyards; the USS America (LHA-6) amphibious assault ship built at Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.; USS Michael Murphy, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer built at Bath (Maine) Iron Works; Littoral Combat Ship USS Freedom (LCS-3) built at Marinette (Wis.) Marine and USS Independence (LCS-4) built at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.; and a Virginia-class submarine SSN-782. (Source: Defense Daily 07/17/18)