Oct. 4 brought a pair of nine-figure modifications to Naval Sea Systems Command contracts with General Dynamics Electric Boat.
The first was a $377 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia-class submarines. Work is expected to be completed by October 2025. The second was a not-to-exceed $244 million cost-plus-fixed-fee undefinitized order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement to provide unique parts and specialized material, including initial spares, for Virginia-class submarines. Work is expected to be completed by September 2028.
A Navy study of the country’s submarine-construction infrastructure concluded that tentative plans to produce two Virginia-class SSNs and one Columbia-class SSBN per year for 12 years are viable, given sufficient funding. By the end of that run, the newest of the Improved Los Angeles-class SSN 688s will be 40 years old and overdue for replacement, adding pressure to meet at least the two-SSN’s-per-year goal.
The Virginia-class Block V construction has seen delays, which the Government Accountability Office has ascribed to supply-chain problems, workforce shortages, and limited shipyard capacity that have made it difficult for the Navy to produce two submarines a year.
Throw into the mix the AUKUS plan for the U.S. to sell three Virginia-class submarines for operational deployment in the early 2030s, which comes with an option to buy two more, for a total of five. The U.S. will be hard-pressed to meet its own force requirements.
While such a sale will have to have the approval of the U.S. Congress, Australia’s fielding of Virginia-class submarines as soon as possible would provide a stopgap until Australia begins fielding its own SSN-AUKUS submarines, which are planned to be operational in the early 2040s.
The latest plan floating around is for the U.S. to transfer two of its current Virginia-class submarines (probably Block III or IV) to Australia, with the third to come off the current production line. Although not set in stone, this is likely the best solution to fill the gap between the retirement of Australia’s Collins-class diesel-electric submarines and the planned SSN-AUKUS submarines.
Some have suggested that the Navy will begin to order three SSNs per year after the final Columbia is delivered.
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