The Navy will extend the life of four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the service announced Thursday, keeping the warships in service well into the 2030s and partly addressing a growing concern in Washington about whether America’s naval capabilities are falling behind those of its chief rival, China.
In a statement Thursday, Navy officials said that the USS Ramage, based out of Norfolk, Virginia, and the USS Benfold, based in Japan, will have their services extended for five years. That will keep the Ramage in service until 2035 and the Benfold in service until 2036, officials said. The USS Mitscher and USS Milius have each been extended four years until 2034 and 2035, respectively.
The moves come after the Navy in March extended the service life of the USS Arleigh Burke by five years, through 2031. Each of those five ships is now expected to remain in service beyond the original estimate of 35 years.
“These service life extensions demonstrate the Navy’s commitment to ensuring the surface fleet has the right capability and capacity,” said Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, the Navy’s director of Surface Warfare. “Adding 23 years of service life cumulatively over the last six months is a significant investment in surface warfare.”
The Navy, Adm. Pyle said, evaluated each of the ships individually when deciding exactly how long the extensions should be.
“Each of these extensions takes into account where these ships are in their lifecycle maintenance schedules,” he said in a statement. “Extending Mitscher and Milius by an additional year to five years would require each ship to spend a year of that extension in a docking availability, which would not be a prudent use of resources entrusted to the Navy.”
The Navy has 73 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in service today.
Thursday’s decision comes amid pressure on the Navy to keep ships in service longer — assuming they are in good working order — in order to bolster America’s warfighting capacity at sea. That pressure comes as China makes unprecedented investments in its own navy, which now boasts more ships than the U.S.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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