§8678a Limitation on Decommissioning or Inactivating a Battle Force Ship Before the End of Expected Service Life

Summary

The Navy cannot retire or take a battle force ship out of service before the ship reaches its expected years of service. The Secretary of the Navy can make an exception if he or she sends a written certification to the congressional defense committees no later than three days after the President files the budget materials under section 1105(a) of title 31 for that fiscal year, and if 30 days pass after the National Defense Authorization Act for that year becomes law. The certification must say that keeping the ship at lower activity, keeping it with less capability, using it as a Navy Reserve unit, transferring it to the Coast Guard, and keeping it to meet the latest national defense strategy are all not feasible. It must explain what options were checked and why. The certification must be unclassified but can have a classified annex. A battle force ship means a commissioned warship or a U.S. Naval Ship that directly helps Navy combat or support missions. Expected service life means the number of years the ship is expected to serve.