Bogged down by shipbuilding struggles and maintenance woes, the US Navy faces an uphill battle to get its fleet ready for the next high-end conflict, which could be against China and its rapidly modernizing military.

Adm. James Kilby, the acting chief of naval operations, outlined for Business Insider how the US plans to maintain its edge and fix long-standing readiness problems.

"The Navy is committed to maintaining a ready fleet," Kilby said, explaining that the Navy is working to increase its ship readiness by improving the maintenance processes and reducing delays, increasing the procurement of spare parts, and taking a "focused and deliberate" approach to "manning, training, modernization, and sustainment."

Kilby said that the "goal is to achieve and sustain an 80% combat-surge ready posture by 2027," the year that China's military is expected to be ready to fight a war over Taiwan. Such a war could quickly become a conflict in the Western Pacific, drawing in American and allied militaries against China. Naval forces would have a critical part to play in that fight.

The acting CNO said in April that the Navy's average combat-surge readiness was about 68%.

Last September, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti released a plan to increase readiness by 2027, which included a focus on streamlining warship maintenance to eliminate delays, pushing to integrate drones into fleet operations, and retaining personnel to prevent the loss of valuable workforce experience that can be difficult to replace.

"To increase our combat surge readiness," Kilby explained, "we are reducing the number of platforms in depot maintenance through improved business and maintenance practices, as well as certifying training earlier in the force-generation cycle."

The Navy's issues are centered on strained public yards, tremendous maintenance backlogs for combat ships, and stresses on the American shipbuilding industry, hollowed out in the years since the end of the Cold War. Rising costs, deferred maintenance for aging hulls, staffing shortfalls, and industrial and supply chain limitations have created a situation where existing ships aren't being adequately maintained and new ones aren't coming fast enough.

China has the largest navy in the world, and it is building new warships at a faster pace than the US. A larger force size and stronger industry could allow Beijing to endure more losses than Washington in a major conflict between the two adversaries.

US Navy readiness for a Pacific conflict has been a heightened concern since the US became heavily involved in the Middle East conflicts. Aircraft carriers and warships have rotated in and out of the region since the fall of 2023 for near-constant operations focused on threats from Iran and Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

For instance, during Israel's brief war against Iran last month, the Navy positioned two carrier strike groups in the Middle East and moved several other warships capable of ballistic missile defense into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea — putting an immense amount of firepower around the region.

These operations have resulted in extended deployments for aircraft carriers and their crews and have depleted critical missile interceptors that would be needed in substantial quantities for a war against China.

The Middle East conflicts have put a strain on the Navy. Some analysts argue that these fights offer only a glimpse of the kind of high-intensity combat operations that the sea service would potentially face in a Pacific fight.

"While the Navy must respond to today's crises, it cannot do so at the expense of future readiness," Kilby said.

He added that "we must exercise strategic discipline of the use of our forces, while increasing the surge readiness of our Navy without sacrificing scheduled maintenance so that the fleet stands ready for high-end conflict with China."