A look At The U.S. Navy’s Costly Plan To Upgrade Aging Submarines

The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN 780) departs Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard after completing a scheduled extended dry-docking selected restricted availability (EDSRA). Photo: Chief Mass Communication Specialist Amanda R. Gray/US Navy  

CNBC: Quiet, deadly and expensive: The Navy’s costly plan to upgrade aging submarines 

Submarines are quiet, deadly and expensive. Boats like those in the Virginia class, which is a U.S. attack submarine, can cost $3.4 billion and take seven years to build. The Navy has ambitious goals for the future of the underwater fleet, but some problems could stand in the way. 

“The Navy is undergoing a 20-year plan that will cost $21 billion to upgrade its infrastructure,” said Aidan Quigley, a reporter at Inside Defense who covers the U.S. Navy and Marines. “Right now, the state of Navy shipyard infrastructure is not great. They’ve been underfunded for the past couple of decades.” 

The Navy currently has 68 submarines in service. And it wants to start shipbuilding on two to possibly three Virginia-class attack subs per year, and roughly one Columbia-class submarine per year until around 2035. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, a lack of shipyard infrastructure could delay those plans.  

Read more ....  

WNU editor: Here are more details on the US Navy's sub plans .... US Navy Planning Next-Generation Attack Submarine By 2031 (The Defense Post).

from War News Updates https://ift.tt/2Rts43K