Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan

GAO Report on Navy Readiness and Shipyard Improvement

Changes in Cost Estimates for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Dry Dock Project

The following is the June 28, 2023, Government Accountability Office report, Navy Readiness: Actions Needed to Address Cost and Schedule Estimates for Shipyard Improvement. 

From the reportWhat GAO Found

The Navy has not developed a full cost and schedule estimate for its Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP)—an effort to improve its dry docks, facilities, and equipment—and reports that it will not be able to do so until fiscal year 2025. In the interim, the Navy plans to provide...

https://news.usni.org/2023/06/29/gao-report-on-navy-readiness-and-shipyard-improvement

Former VCNO: China Ahead of U.S. in Applying Data to Military Use

Operations Specialist Letroy Black, from Little Rock, Arkansas, monitors data units in the combat direction center aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). US Navy Photo

China’s push to harness “quality data” for military use has put Beijing “way ahead of us” in this area of high technology, but the Pentagon remains the leader in domain expertise like anti-submarine warfare and artificial intelligence, a former vice chief of naval operations said last week.

Retired Adm....

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/22/former-vcno-china-ahead-of-u-s-in-applying-data-to-military-use

Navy Revamping Aviation Maintenance in New Ten-Year ‘FIOP’ Plan

Fleet Readiness Center Southwest. US Navy Photo

The Navy is working on a new 10-year effort to revitalize its aviation infrastructure, the service’s top officer told Congress on Tuesday.

The service is pursuing what it’s calling the Naval Aviation Fleet Infrastructure Optimization Plan (FIOP) to revamp the aviation maintenance facilities so they can better maintain aircraft, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday told the Senate Armed Services Committee in written testimony.

“We are also...

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/22/navy-revamping-aviation-maintenance-in-new-ten-year-fiop-plan

NAVSEA: Navy Could Accelerate Some Public, Private Shipyard Upgrades If Money Were Available

Terrance Wells, from San Diego, ties straps for a containment project on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Oct. 26, 2020. US Navy Photo

Support is growing within the House Armed Services Committee to accelerate Navy efforts to improve ship repair capacity at both private and public shipyards, and for funding that either through ongoing talks about a massive federal infrastructure bill or other means, lawmakers made clear during a Thursday...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/07/navsea-navy-could-accelerate-some-public-private-shipyard-upgrades-if-money-were-available

Acting SECNAV Harker: Navy in Favor of Accelerating Shipyard Revitalization Plan

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) prepares to pull into Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. in 2017. US Navy Photo

The Navy welcomes the chance to speed up its 20-year effort to revitalize the nation’s public shipyards, the service’s acting secretary said today.

Testifying in front of the House Armed Services defense subcommittee, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker told lawmakers that the service is open to fast-tracking the timeline for its Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/29/acting-secnav-harker-navy-in-favor-of-accelerating-shipyard-revitalization-plan

Bipartisan Bill Calls for $25B in Infrastructure Funds for Shipyards

Chief Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Paul Villanyi, right, from Spring Hill, Florida, directs Cryptologic Technician (Maintenance) 2nd Class Patrick Shores, from Chicago, during a monitored maintenance conducted on the AS/4293-A V/UHF Acquisition Antenna on the forward masthead light-pole aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) on April 8, 2021. US Navy Photo

A group of bipartisan lawmakers have drafted legislation aimed at recapitalizing America’s public and private...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/28/bipartisan-bill-calls-for-25b-in-infrastructure-funds-for-shipyards

Navy Looking to Accelerate Effort to Revitalize Public Shipyards Amid Lawmaker Concerns

The portside anchor of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is lowered into a dry dock for maintenance. GHWB is currently in Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Va. US Navy Photo

The Navy is evaluating how it can speed up the timeline for its initiative to renovate aging public shipyards amid concern from lawmakers that the current 20-year timeframe is too long.

As the service continues to work its way out of a years-long maintenance backlog and the nuclear-powered fleet is set to grow in the...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/22/navy-looking-to-accelerate-effort-to-revitalize-public-shipyards-amid-lawmaker-concerns

Panel: Future Fleet Numbers Not As Important As Capabilities Like Sealift, Unmanned

Terrance Wells, from San Diego, ties straps for a containment project on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Oct. 26, 2020. US Navy Photo

A panel of Navy experts is hopeful that discussions around the future naval fleet will focus on big-picture questions – how will the Navy and the nation pay for modernizing the sealift fleet, do unmanned craft count as ships, and how does the sea service balance the needs of small and large shipyards as it...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/01/panel-future-fleet-numbers-not-as-important-as-capabilities-like-sealift-unmanned

Navy, Lawmaker Split Over Timeline to Renovate Public Repair Yards

Terrance Wells, from San Diego, ties straps for a containment project on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Oct. 26, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy faces a conundrum in renovating its centuries-old public shipyards.

On one hand, the sooner the yards are redesigned with more efficient layouts and overhauled to have the latest tools and machines, the sooner yard employees can start repairing submarines and aircraft carriers at a faster pace and dig...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/15/navy-lawmaker-split-over-timeline-to-renovate-public-repair-yards

Navy Claims Victories in Modernizing Public Yards While Congress Questions Pace

USS Boise (SSN 764) arrived at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division to begin its 25-month extended engineering overhaul on June 18, 2018, but ultimately had to return to Naval Station Norfolk to continue awaiting maintenance because there was no room at Newport News for the sub amid two other boats’ maintenance overruns. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ photo.

The Navy is moving into the next phase of a wholesale revision of its ship maintenance infrastructure. Last...

https://news.usni.org/2020/10/19/navy-claims-victories-in-modernizing-public-yards-while-congress-questions-pace

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