The USS Lincoln Encounters Reflecting the Decline of the U.S. Navy

According to a report by Reference News on September 9, the Russian newspaper "Vzglyad" published an article on September 2 titled "The War with Iran Exposes the Decline of U.S. Naval Power," authored by Alexander Timokhin. The full translation is as follows:

On September 2, the rusty U.S. aircraft carrier "Lincoln" docked for the first time after more than eight months of operational deployment.

Although CNN provided an optimistic report on the situation aboard, the reality on the "Lincoln" is much worse. Reports of crew members attempting suicide due to unbearable service conditions serve as evidence. This is not surprising; even in peacetime, many positions on such vessels come with extremely high stress. In wartime, the stakes are even higher, as mistakes can lead not only to the loss of aircraft and endanger the lives of crew members but also to the failure of the carrier strike group's operational mission.

Media reports have also circulated rumors about issues with the "Lincoln's" plumbing facilities and food shortages, with the extent of food shortages leading to weight loss among the crew.

All these facts indicate that the ship's service is at its breaking point.

This is not unusual for Americans; they can indeed push crew members to the point of exhaustion. But the problem is that, theoretically, the U.S. has no reason to use the ship and its crew in this manner. The number of U.S. aircraft carriers should be sufficient, but in reality, it is not.

Relying on a military force that is experiencing decline to maintain U.S. global hegemony is a daunting task. The U.S. Navy is short on personnel and ships.

All of this began even before the Trump administration took office. Not only aircraft carriers, but U.S. Navy destroyers have also undergone operational deployments of over 200 days. Compared to the massive aircraft carriers, destroyers are more susceptible to swaying in rough seas, and crew fatigue is much higher.

The U.S. Navy has significantly lowered its recruitment standards, yet personnel shortages persist. Additionally, there are issues such as insufficient flight hours for naval aviators, loss of damage control skills, and a decline in command culture.

Crew fatigue is another story. For example, to ensure that the crew of the Littoral Combat Ship can serve in good condition and have enough personnel for damage control, the crew size needs to be increased by at least half compared to the current establishment. All of this has already affected crew attitudes toward service, the willingness of retired personnel to remain in the reserves, and the recruitment of new personnel.

But this is just one aspect of the U.S. Navy crisis. In terms of shipbuilding programs, the Navy is "famous" for projects such as the Littoral Combat Ship, the Zumwalt-class destroyer, the Constellation-class frigate, the first dockless America-class amphibious assault ship, and other similarly absurd projects. The only reason these have not severely undermined the Navy's strength is that the U.S. has not been involved in any large-scale wars requiring significant force deployment—despite Iran's fierce resistance, it does not reach that scale.

In addition to these issues, there is the failure of U.S. Navy strategy. The U.S. has almost no idea how to employ its fleet in the next large-scale war, unable to clearly outline the nature of this war, and thus cannot plan for the fleet's development.

Discussions within the U.S. about the future of the Navy are open and intense, but there is currently no clear picture. Arthur Cebrowski, who proposed the theory of network-centric warfare, liked to say that if you do not create your own future, you will become a victim of the future created for you by others. The U.S. Navy is now in such a predicament.

For this reason, the conflict with Iran, which cannot be compared in intensity to past wars, has made the issues of the "Lincoln" aircraft carrier a topic of media reports and congressional concern. (Translation by Wei Lianglei)