By: Andrew Vasquez and Jason DeHart
There is an enemy currently on every Naval ship out at sea. It’s slow and creeping and begins unnoticed until it swallows up whole sections of a ship. Corrosion starts small but carries a heavy cost, roughly $20 billion, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The U.S. Navy identified the need to ramp up shipbuilding to meet our near-peer threats, but it also needs a clear plan to neutralize the corrosion problem to maintain pace with our enemies. Without a plan to extend a ship’s lifespan, the U.S. could lose its superiority on the water.
According to a 2024 Congressional Research Service report, The Navy intends to retire 14 ships by the end of this year. It will retire another 14 by the end of 2026, and the Military Sealift Command is working on a plan to sideline 17 ships due to manning issues. Fewer ships create bigger problems.
Today’s Navy faces staffing shortages, the retirement of ships, the pacing of shipbuilding, corrosion issues, and expanding capabilities by hostile nations.
China continues to grow its presence in the South China Sea, colliding with a Philippine coast guard ship in August. The incident forced the U.S. to remind Beijing of its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines.
The conflict in Gaza is approaching a year as U.S. ships sit in the Mediterranean Sea to quell Houthi missiles and deter Lebanon and other Iran-backed enemies from launching additional attacks.
Right now, sailors are focused on executing a counter or offensive maneuver, not scraping and treating rust spots on the ship.
Yes, the U.S. must build new warships equipped with cutting-edge technology to meet the high-end war coming over the horizon. But how does the U.S. maintain naval superiority while waiting for the next wave of warships?
The Navy can tackle the immediate challenge of corrosion by throwing every tool in the bag at it.
Valkyrie Enterprises saw this issue and acquired a company to address this very issue. Valkyrie Enterprises-Ship 2 Shore corrosion control products bring a lengthy history of defense and private industry applications. The product is a proven and patent corrosion-inhibiting formula, providing sailors with a path to enhance operational integrity. Valkyrie Enterprises-Ship 2 Shore closely works with ship force and Port Engineers to address and correct corrosion areas, track history through a shared database, and prevent similar corrosion areas. A study by the U.S. Naval Assets Topside Preservation Program demonstrated the product reduced costs by 75% and performed better in confined spaces.
The study started because of an encounter at the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) MegaRust Conference. This September, ASNE welcomes roughly 1,500 Naval, Coast Guard, and industry leaders to its Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium in Virginia Beach. Valkyrie Enterprises will engage and demonstrate how its corrosion control products can save costs and provide a better solution to tackling the $20 billion rust problem plaguing our maritime warfighters.
The symposium comes when tensions have stretched resources further away from maintenance stations, and every minute a sailor is combating corrosion is time not spent on their primary duty of warfighting.
From my perspective, we need to hold the line with our current fleet, invest more into developing a dynamic shipbuilding workforce, and support our warfighters with better solutions and training to maintain their ships.
Andrew Vasquez served in the Navy as an Assault Craft Unit Two Maintenance Officer and was a Corrosion Control Manager at Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center. He is now the Operational Technical Lead for Valkyrie Enterprises-Ship 2 Shore. Jason DeHart is the Communications Director for Valkyrie Enterprises.
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