Navy and Congress Share Blame for Ship Modernization Waste
The WasteWatcher
With a budget accounting for one-sixth of federal expenditures, it is easy to blame Pentagon planners when Department of Defense (DOD) spending goes awry. However, policy decisions by members of Congress frequently contribute to poor returns on national security spending, like the wasteful spending to restore seven guided-missile cruisers.
A December 17, 2024, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report detailed the waste of $1.84 billion, or 49.7 percent, of the $3.7 billion spent since 2015 retrofitting seven of the Navy’s Ticonderoga class cruisers.
While the GAO found that the DOD did not “effectively plan the cruiser effort,” including the elimination of quality assurance measures such as inspections that resulted in poor work by contractors, a good deal of the blame can be laid at the feet of members of Congress. According to the report, in 2012 the Navy decided that due to budget constraints, the best option was to retire the seven cruisers and redirect the money saved on newer technology. Members of Congress disagreed, and instead “provided funding to modernize these ships. In response, the Navy planned to use a phased approach to modernization” that would upgrade the cruisers’ combat capability and extend service life by five years.
The Navy ended up spending $1.84 billion to modernize four cruisers that were then divested before being redeployed:
- Hue City: $161.15 million
- Anzio: $250.54 million
- Cowpens: $678.56 million
- Vicksburg: $745.05 million
Moreover, the other three ships will complete the modernization effort but that will not result in an extension of their useful service lives.
The GAO advised the DOD to strengthen its oversight and quality assurance to achieve better outcomes in ship modernization. It might have also suggested that members of Congress listen to the Navy the next time it recommends retiring a group of ships.