Shanahan says plan to scuttle USS Truman not ‘irreversible’

The Pentagon’s controversial proposal to retire the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman halfway through its useful life could be dropped if the Navy doesn’t find another way to provide the same firepower in the near future, defense officials told Congress Tuesday.

Both acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford told the House Armed Services Committee that saving money by not refueling the carrier’s nuclear reactors is a difficult trade-off intended to increase the lethality of the naval force, but if that doesn’t happen, the decision to scuttle the Truman will be revisited.