Navy Attack Submarine Force-Level Goal and Procurement Rate: Background and Issues for Congress (open access)

Navy Attack Submarine Force-Level Goal and Procurement Rate: Background and Issues for Congress

The Navy is currently procuring one Virginia (SSN-774) class attack nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) per year. Each submarine currently costs about $2.4 billion. The FY2006-FY2011 Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP) submitted in February 2005 proposes maintaining the one-per-year procurement rate through FY2011 rather than increasing it two per year in FY2009, as previously planned. A 30-year Navy force-level projection submitted in March 2005 shows the SSN force declining from more than 50 boats today to 37 to 41 boats by FY2035. Submarine supporters are concerned that the Navy and DOD are not placing adequate emphasis on attack submarines in Navy force-structure planning and ship-procurement plans.
Date: May 31, 2005
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
System: The UNT Digital Library