The Army and Navy want the ‘right to repair’ their own equipment

The Army and Navy want the ‘right to repair’ their own equipment

A fundamental value of life at sea is ‘Don’t give up the ship,’ an axiom ingrained in sailors that all damage and problems aboard a vessel fall to the crew to fix. But under modern contracting rules, some of the most critical systems on U.S. Navy ships, as well as major systems used by the Army, can only be fixed by defense contractors. When one of these systems breaks — whether a vital weapon or the machines that produce fresh water — sailors a…