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U.S. Navy Looks Overseas For Warship Repairs


Guided-missile cruiser USS Vicksburg in a dry dock in Norfolk in June 2021. US Navy/MCS3 Brandon Roberson  

Insider: China's massive navy is only getting bigger, and the US is looking overseas for help keeping its warships in action 

* For years, the US Navy has struggled to complete repairs of its ships on time. 

* Protracted delays heighten concerns about maintaining US naval presence in the Western Pacific. 

* To reduce workload at domestic shipyards and keep ships at sea, the US is looking for help overseas. 

The rapid expansion of China's navy has heightened concerns about the availability of the US Navy's fleet, driving Washington to look abroad for help repairing warships that might otherwise face long delays at home. 

China has the world's largest navy, with more than 370 ships and submarines in service in 2022, according to the Pentagon latest report on the Chinese military. 

Officials and experts say the US Navy's battleforce of roughly 300 ships has a qualitative advantage, but its edge has been dulled by protracted delays at domestic shipyards, problems that have the US looking to foreign shipyards to perform some maintenance and repairs its ships have had to leave the Pacific to receive.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: It looks like the US is in a rush to repair and maintain their ships ASAP. So the big question that needs to be answered is "why the rush"?



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