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The USS Texas Virginia-class submarine in the Gulf of Tadjoura. Source: U.S. Navy
The Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarines are expected to be 10 to 15 months late as contractors General Dynamics Corp. and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. try to recover from assembly faults that have dogged recent boats in the $161 billion program.
The average delay of 10.5 months is an increase from a seven-month average cited in March by the Naval Sea Systems Command for 10 vessels being built under a 2014 contract, according to a comparison of dates in Navy budget documents. The contractors, rival shipbuilders who are producing the submarines together, had sought to shave months off of previous construction periods.
The latest delay estimates may raise fresh concerns in Congress about whether the companies have the personnel, expertise and shipyard capacity to juggle three major projects: the 10 “‘Block IV” vessels now under construction, as many as 10 more under a “Block V” contract signed in December and the start of construction later this year on the Navy’s new $128 billion Columbia-class submarine program.
The Virginia-class is the U.S.’s primary submarine for land, surface and anti-submarine attack missions, with cruise missiles and torpedoes. It’s also capable of carrying Navy SEALs and is envisioned as a future platform for launching underwater drones. The Columbia will be the nation’s new launcher of intercontinental ballistic missiles to replace the current Ohio class.
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