The Navy will prolong the life of 4 Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the service introduced Thursday, maintaining the warships in service nicely into the 2030s and partly addressing a rising concern in Washington about whether or not America’s naval capabilities are falling behind these of its chief rival, China.

In an announcement Thursday, Navy officers mentioned that the USS Ramage, primarily based out of Norfolk, Virginia, and the USS Benfold, primarily based in Japan, can have their companies prolonged for 5 years. That will maintain the Ramage in service till 2035 and the Benfold in service till 2036, officers mentioned. The USS Mitscher and USS Milius have every been prolonged 4 years till 2034 and 2035, respectively.

The strikes come after the Navy in March prolonged the service lifetime of the USS Arleigh Burke by 5 years, via 2031. Each of these 5 ships is now anticipated to stay in service past the unique estimate of 35 years.

“These service life extensions demonstrate the Navy’s commitment to ensuring the surface fleet has the right capability and capacity,” mentioned Rear Adm. Fred Pyle, the Navy’s director of Surface Warfare. “Adding 23 years of service life cumulatively over the last six months is a significant investment in surface warfare.”

The Navy, Adm. Pyle mentioned, evaluated every of the ships individually when deciding precisely how lengthy the extensions ought to be.

“Each of these extensions takes into account where these ships are in their lifecycle maintenance schedules,” he mentioned in an announcement. “Extending Mitscher and Milius by an additional year to five years would require each ship to spend a year of that extension in a docking availability, which would not be a prudent use of resources entrusted to the Navy.”

The Navy has 73 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in service as we speak.

Thursday’s choice comes amid stress on the Navy to maintain ships in service longer — assuming they're in good working order — with a view to bolster America’s warfighting capability at sea. That stress comes as China makes unprecedented investments in its personal navy, which now boasts extra ships than the U.S.

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