Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said entering the cruisers into a SLEP is the right idea, but along with that would have to come more careful use of the aging hulls.
“I think extending the service life of the cruisers is a good idea, as long as they are judicious about what they do with them moving forward,” Clark said. “Let’s not spend the money to overhaul them, then burn them up on low-end exercises or theater security cooperation missions.”
The Navy should put the older cruisers through hull, mechanical and electrical upgrades and save them for area air defense for carrier strike group operations instead, Clark argues. That would relieve the strain on the other cruisers and destroyers, which are in increasing demand as the ballistic missile defense mission becomes ever-more important.