Is The U.S. Navy Putting It's Aircraft Carriers On The Firing Line In The Defense Budget Wars

Sailors from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower stand at attention as the USS Harry S. Truman sails past, 2010. Truman‘s latest deployment was just canceled due to budget gamesmanship. Photo: U.S. Navy

Inside The Navy’s Big Aircraft-Carrier Budget Gamble -- Danger Room

The Navy is dealing with the military’s impending budget fiasco by putting its premier hardware — aircraft carriers — on the firing line. It’s unexpected, but it might actually be a smart move — if Congress cancels the deepest budget cuts. But if Congress keeps the cuts, then the Navy’s readiness to handle the security threats of the next several years will seriously decline — in many ways because of how the Navy buys stuff.

No, the Navy isn’t scrapping its aircraft carriers, the number-one symbol of American global power. In fact, last June, with the budget storm brewing, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta publicly swore the U.S. would remain an 11-carrier Navy. But last week, the Navy took the drastic step of canceling the deployment of the USS Harry Truman, which was scheduled to head for the Middle East; and delaying the years-long refueling of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The fleet was already down one carrier, with the December decommissioning of the USS Enterprise.

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My Comment: This does not look like a smart move to me at all .... if anything .... it looks more like desperation.