The USS Harry S. Truman, scheduled for a fall cruise, is currently pierside as engineers attempt to fix an electrical issue.

The carrier's escorts are deploying as a group and are a pretty potent force themselves.

The U.S. Navy hopes Truman can rejoin its strike group at a later date.

The U.S. Navy is sending a carrier strike group to sea, but without its most important asset: the aircraft carrier itself. Problems with the USS Truman’s electrical system have sidelined the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, so the cruisers and destroyers that make up the rest of the group are still sailing as planned. The Navy doesn’t have a timeline for returning the supercarrier to service.

The USS Truman is a Nimitiz-class aircraft carrier. The ship, according to USNI News , completed a cruise in 2018 and then a COMPUTEX, or Composite Training Unit Exercise, designed to certify it was ready for a second exercise. Although the carrier was ready, apparently the ship’s electrical system is not. The ship is currently pierside at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia with engineers attempting to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, the carrier’s escorts—Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy, and guided destroyers USS Lassen, USS Farragut, and USS Forrest Sherman—will sortie as planned, picking up a detachment of MH-60R Seahawk multi-missile naval helicopters.

The four ships will form a Surface Action Group (SAG), a naval task force that consists solely of cruisers and destroyers. The Navy hasn’t deployed a SAG since 2006, preferring instead to deploy larger, more powerful Carrier Strike Groups or Amphibious Ready Groups.

Guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, which typically coordinates air defense for a carrier strike group. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Swofford

Even without a carrier, Surface Action Groups are potent task forces. The four warships in the group are collectively armed with approximately 400 Mk. 41 vertical launch systems, armored silos capable of carrying everything from land attack cruise missiles to ballistic missile interceptors, air defense missiles, and anti-submarine rockets.

Without a carrier to protect, SAGs can load up on offensive missiles such as the Tactical Tomahawk land attack cruise missile, capable of striking targets nearly a thousand miles away. Each Tomahawk is precision guided and packs a 1,000-pound high explosive warhead.

U.S. News reports this is only the second time a Carrier Strike Group has deployed without its carrier. In 2013, USS Nimitz was sidelined by a mechanical problem, and its escorts deployed without it. Nimitz, once fixed, later rejoined her escorts for the remainder of the cruise.

The extent of the electrical problem onboard the Truman appears to be unknown, as is how long it will take to fix. The Navy said it would not comment on future operations, but hoped to have Truman rejoin her escorts for the remainder of the cruise.

Source: USNI News

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