A recent review by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has brought to light critical concerns regarding the readiness of ground vehicles used by the US Army and Marine Corps. The report examined 18 different types of military vehicles, including tanks, self-propelled artillery, and armored personnel carriers, revealing significant deficiencies in their mission-capable status.
The findings indicate that none of the examined systems achieved the Army’s goal of 90 percent availability for 2024. Alarmingly, 16 of the vehicles reviewed have seen a decline in operational readiness since 2015. For the US Marine Corps, the situation is only slightly better, as only two out of seven vehicles studied demonstrated any improvement over the same time frame.
One of the key contributors to the declining mission-capable rates has been identified as a significant reduction in the number of overhauls conducted on these vehicles. In 2015, the Army completed 1,278 overhauls; however, that number plummeted to just 12 by 2024. The Marine Corps similarly reduced overhaul efforts, decreasing from 725 to 163 during the same period.
Officials have highlighted multiple sustainment challenges that exacerbate this issue. These include shortages of spare parts, a lack of skilled personnel, and insufficient up-to-date technical data. In some instances, the military has resorted to cannibalizing parts from decommissioned vehicles to keep their active fleets operational.
Despite the decline in vehicle availability, the corresponding costs for sustainment have surged. In 2023, the combined expenditure for depot maintenance exceeded $2.3 billion for both branches, reflecting the increasing financial burden tied to older fleets and the process of integrating newer systems. Between 2015 and 2023, the GAO reported that maintenance costs rose for nine of the Army’s 11 tracked systems. Notably, expenses related to the M1 Abrams tank fleet alone rose by $181 million, nearly doubling the average cost per vehicle.
Conversely, while the overall maintenance costs for the Marine Corps’ fleet saw a decrease, per-vehicle costs escalated for four out of the seven platforms analyzed. This complex situation raises important questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of resource allocation and management within the US military’s ground vehicle fleet, prompting a reevaluation of strategies to enhance readiness and sustainability moving forward.
