CAPITOL HILL – A competition for material between submarine construction and submarine maintenance is contributing to slowdowns in both, the Navy’s acquisition chief told USNI News today.
The Navy has more submarine maintenance to conduct than its four public shipyards can accommodate. As a result, the service has been shifting maintenance availabilities of its older Los Angeles-class attack boats to General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding.
However, maintenance work at both yards has run long. Three boats in maintenance now are running behind schedule and are creating unbudgeted expenses for the Navy. The unforeseen cost overruns were included in the Navy’s unfunded priorities list released this week to supplement the official Fiscal Year 2020 budget request.
At the same time, new-build Virginia-class submarines are struggling to meet their delivery dates. Modules are being moved between co-builders Newport News Shipbuilding and Electric Boat behind schedule due to a variety of issues. One factor is late delivery of material and parts from the supply base, USNI News understands.
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