U.S. Navy Leaders Focus on Positive Trends in Surface Ship Maintenance at ASNE FMMS

U.S. Navy Leaders Focus on Positive Trends in Surface Ship Maintenance at ASNE FMMS

By Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During the annual American Society of Naval Engineer's (ANSE) Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium (FMMS), held Sept. 17-19 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Navy leaders discussed the importance of ship maintenance and modernization to ensuring the readiness of America's Warfighting Navy.

Navy representatives included Adm. Daryl Caudle, Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; Christopher A. Miller, Executive Director, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA); Rear Adm. William Greene, Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center and Director, Surface Ship Maintenance, Modernization, and Sustainment; and Rear Adm. Dianna Wolfson, Director, Fleet Maintenance, U.S. Fleet Forces Command..

"Today, more than ever, there is an emergent need for industry and the Navy to collaborate and partner to improve fleet maintenance and readiness so we can sustain forces forward during a high-end fight - because that is the commitment of everyone right here in this room - to deliver the foundation and infrastructure that our Navy, and most importantly, our Sailors, need so they can fight and win our nation's wars with decisive overmatch!" said Caudle during his keynote address.

While continued improvements are needed, significant progress has been achieved towards driving down days of maintenance delay in surface ship maintenance in fiscal year 2024. A focus on planning milestones and process adherence has led to improved schedule performance with the Navy currently projecting a 65% on-time completion rate for FY24, a 29% improvement from just two years ago.

"Over the last five years, the Navy has been focused on perform to plan, utilizing data analytics to improve availability planning, award contracts, procure material and integrate schedules to better maximize every day in an availability," said NAVSEA Executive Director, Chris Miller. "We have a lot of work to go, but as we build on this momentum and continue to focus on achieving our force generation goals, I challenge our industry partners to think, act, and operate differently."

Throughout the keynote remarks, Navy leaders highlighted examples of how innovative approaches are being applied to improve outcomes. The Navy's industrial base spending focused on workforce development, supplier development, and manufacturing technology were discussed as opportunities to improve the foundation and raise baseline readiness to achieve 80% combat surge ready ships and submarines.

Today, the Navy is executing depot-level maintenance on two aircraft carriers, 14 submarines and 35 surface ships across its public shipyards and private industry partners with nearly 80 ships and subs in planning phase. Readiness generation and completing maintenance availabilities on time and with required work completed remains the top focus to the Navy maintenance community.

For more information on U.S. Fleet Forces Command visit: https://www.usff.navy.mil/.

For more information on NAVSEA visit: https://www.navsea.navy.mil/.