Navy officials this week emphasized the current goals for U.S. submarine construction rates are about five times higher than they were in 2015 while the service is working to better in-service submarine availability as maintenance rates improve.
In written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee for an October 25 hearing, Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven, Commander of Naval Submarine Forces Vice Adm. William Houston, and Program Executive Officer for Attack Submarines Rear Adm. Jonathan Rucker said the Navy’s goal is to build two Virginia-class attack submarines (SSNs), or VACL, with the Virginia Payload Module (VPM) and one
Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) per year, referred to as “1+2.”
However, “the current submarine construction rate, coupled with systemic challenges facing the U.S. [Submarine Industrial Base], resulted in the current annual production rate of 1.2 to 1.3 VACL SSNs per year, compared to the goal of 2.0 VACL SSNs per year.”
They said the recapitalization process the submarine industrial base is going through in order to achieve the 1+2 annual build rate by 2028 has a “workload equivalent” of a factor of five in terms of resources and tonnage.
The Navy calculates the five fold increase by starting with 2015 as the last year only one Virginia-class SSN was scheduled for delivery. The officials said each newer SSN that includes the VPM is equivalent to 1.25 older Virginia-class boats, and each SSBN is equivalent to about 2.5 SSNs.
This means a build rate of one SSN in 2015 becomes a build rate of five in 2028.
They said the Navy’s submarine builders General Dynamics [GD] Electric Boat and HII’s [HII] Newport News Shipbuilding “and their supporting supplier base are working to achieve this 1+2 rate in 2028 by investing in workforce development and retention efforts, increasing capacity and capability through infrastructure and equipment upgrades, and partnering with the DON (Department of Navy) to mature and scale advanced manufacturing technology throughout the SIB (Submarine Industrial Base).”
During the hearing, Raven said President Joe Biden’s October 20 supplemental funding request “is one key part along with the investments that Congress has already made, and the investments that are planned to getting up on that ramp, but it is a significant ramp, we understand the challenges, and I think we have a strategy to get after it.”
The officials also said SSN availability had increased from 60 percent to 64 to 67 percent since May when accountability for the public shipyard submarine on-time delivery was moved to the submarine force commander.
“We continue to work towards our North Star of 80% SSN readiness. We are focused in three major areas: Execution, Material, and Modernization/Planning,” the officials said in their written statement.
They said the Navy has already identified or realized over $170 million in savings from public shipyard availabilities due to factors like better execution, better material support, improved modernization, and better overall planning.
The officials said this is a top priority for the service and the Navy Department has programmed more than $2 billion to improve in-service maintenance.
“All of these efforts are absolutely necessary for our own submarine force, but they also support AUKUS. Strong, resilient, and skilled maintenance capability is foundational to a robust and capable submarine force,” Raven, Houston and Rucker said in the statement.
During the hearing, Rucker clarified that $2 billion in the supplemental is focused on supplier development and strategic outsourcing so some of the submarine industrial base workforce is spread out more nationally, beyond the two shipbuilders.
Notably, Austal USA, which added a steel construction line in the past year, is under contract by Electric Boat to build several Command and Control Systems Modules and Electronic Deck Modules (EDM) for the Virginia– and Columbia-class programs.
The Navy is aiming to reach 80 percent submarine availability, which requires submarines starting and completing maintenance on time more often.
Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) asked Houston how the supplemental helps reach that availability goal.
“The key thing is that we’ve gone from 60 to 66 percent. The only reason why we’ve fallen off 67 is we were both at the commissioning of [USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795)], which pulled us down because we added to the numerator and denominator at the same time,” Houston said.
He added the supplemental has about $700 million the Navy can add to parts, infrastructure and similar items for maintenance infrastructure.
“One of our key bottlenecks or one of our key delays, which the Navy has already invested in to get after, is Virginia-class parts. This will help with getting after that part backlog. Also, as far as being able to outsource more work to private companies in the area – it’s a tremendous uplift for us. Some of the infrastructure in the shipyards needs to be modernized as part of the Navy’s [Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program or SIOP] plan,” Houston continued.
He said with the SIOP dry dock modernization the Navy will rebuild and refurbish dry docks so they are not reliant on infrastructure that a 100 years old.
“But it’s absolutely critical and we will be on a path to reach 80 percent in late 2027, beginning of 2028. 80 percent operational availability, and I believe we’re on track, and the supplemental certainly helps reinforce it. And without it, it puts it in jeopardy.”