JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As part of its budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, the U.S. Navy will seek to decommission eight to 10 of its Freedom class littoral combat ships, according to a report by Politico, which cites three people with knowledge of the proposal.
This comes despite some of the vessels being almost brand new. Politico noted that the Navy and Department of Defense declined to confirm or deny the FY 2023 budget request. According to an article by The Drive, the oldest example that’s still on duty is just seven years old.
The article by The Drive adds that the Navy in 2021 said that it would take years to put in place critical fixes to propulsion systems in all Freedom class vessels that it had acquired.
According to the U.S. Navy’s website, there are nine such ships in service and eight of them are based at Naval Station Mayport.
A Navy spokesperson told News4JAX they would not comment on future budgetary decisions until the budget request is sent to Congress later this year, so it’s not clear what will happen with the ships at Mayport.
The ships had been expected to serve 25 years, but in recent years, two such ships had been decommissioned after serving just 11 and 13 years.
It is ultimately Congress’ decision to decommission any ships.
A retired admiral told News4JAX even if Naval Station Mayport does see these particular ships decommissioned, he would anticipate other ships coming to take their place.
Apart from the Freedom class, the Independence class is the other type of LCS in use by the Navy.