Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Congress not Happy About Plan to Decommission 11 Ticonderoga Cruisers

A key congressional navy panel agreed with the US Navy (USN) on 10 July that the service needs more ships, but lawmakers questioned the service's plan to remove half of its CG 47 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile air-defence cruisers from operations.

Members of the US House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower and projection forces are concerned that the navy's proposal to remove 11 Ticonderoga cruisers from service while the fleet undergoes modernisation is really a ploy to eventually decommission those ships.

The navy has asked to take 11 CG 47s out of service during a phased modernisation. Sean Stackley, the service's top acquisition official, said during the 10 July hearing that the ships, charged with protecting aircraft carriers, would begin retiring from service in 2019.

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