The Navy may not repair a nuclear attack submarine damaged in May by an act of arson, according to the Associated Press.
USS Miami (SSN-755) needs about $450 million in repairs following a fire set by a worker at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine but those repairs have been put on hold due to mandatory Navy budget cuts stemming from sequestration and the yearlong Continuing Resolution.
“The Navy needs every submarine in our inventory. Restoring Miami remains a high priority. But it necessarily must compete with other high naval priorities during this period of restricted budgets,” Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, commander of Submarine Group 2 in Groton, Conn., told the AP.
On Friday, following the sentencing of arsonist Casey James Fury, Breckenridge added
“Now that sequestration impacts have been enforced and put into place, I’d tell you that uncertainty is even greater,” he said.
If sequestration cuts and the Continuing Resolution stand, the Navy has said it will cut all depot level maintenance for the last half of the year for ships and aircraft.
USS Porter (DDG-78), which collided with a Japanese tanker in August, could suffer delays in its $120 million repair job.