Sailors from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower stand at attention as the USS Harry S. Truman sails past, 2010. Truman‘s latest deployment was just canceled due to budget gamesmanship. Photo: U.S. Navy
Inside The Navy’s Big Aircraft-Carrier Budget Gamble -- Danger Room
The Navy is dealing with the military’s impending budget fiasco by putting its premier hardware — aircraft carriers — on the firing line. It’s unexpected, but it might actually be a smart move — if Congress cancels the deepest budget cuts. But if Congress keeps the cuts, then the Navy’s readiness to handle the security threats of the next several years will seriously decline — in many ways because of how the Navy buys stuff.
No, the Navy isn’t scrapping its aircraft carriers, the number-one symbol of American global power. In fact, last June, with the budget storm brewing, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta publicly swore the U.S. would remain an 11-carrier Navy. But last week, the Navy took the drastic step of canceling the deployment of the USS Harry Truman, which was scheduled to head for the Middle East; and delaying the years-long refueling of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The fleet was already down one carrier, with the December decommissioning of the USS Enterprise.
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My Comment: This does not look like a smart move to me at all .... if anything .... it looks more like desperation.