Last month, Need to Know recounted reports on USNI News and The War Zone that the Navy had ordered the deactivation of its Mk VI patrol boats, starting in February. Lieutenant Commander Amber Lewis, a public affairs officer with Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, contacted Proceedings as the May issue was going to press to note that the Navy’s deactivation order had been canceled on 5 March.
That “stops the inactivation of Mk VI boats this year,” Lewis wrote, while adding: “It wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate on the program’s future.”
So, for now at least, the Mk VI remains in the fleet, but speculation doubtless will continue. The abruptness of the deactivation order and the equally sudden course reversal mean the patrol boat’s fate will be closely watched going forward.
