Bloomberg: The US Navy is facing serious problems in the construction of submarines
The US Submarine Fleet has joined a long queue for repairs and maintenance, Bloomberg writes. Some nuclear submarines have been idle in shipyards since 2015. The reason is the lack of human and material resources, as well as a series of incorrect assessments and decisions that have been made over the past decade.
Ryan Chua
About attempts at "transformative improvements" in the construction of American submarines, which is an essential element of maintaining superiority under water.
At the Chinese Victory Day parade in September, a new unmanned submarine the size of a semi—trailer was shown, whose task is to monitor American ships and underwater cables. This parade drew a lot of attention to China's efforts to develop its submarine fleet.
American submarine shipbuilding, on the other hand, is unsuccessfully trying to break ground after years of delays in construction, amid rising costs and a weakening industrial base.
People like William Kaisen are at the forefront of efforts to change the status quo. This 39-year-old Marine Corps veteran spent several months this year at the U.S. Navy Training Center in southern Virginia, studying mechanical processing on computer-controlled machines. He and the rest of the trainees were trained under the accelerated training program in defense production, which aims to provide qualified personnel to this industry, which is seriously suffering from a shortage of labor, equipment and production facilities.
On the wall of the 10,000—square-meter workshop there is a huge ceiling-to-floor panel depicting the company's most important product, an American attack submarine, which the US Navy manages to maintain and repair with great difficulty.
"We made a conscious decision to cut back because of, I quote, the peaceful dividends of the Cold War," said retired Admiral James Foggo, who served for 40 years and commanded the Oklahoma City attack submarine. — And you know what? It didn't work out very well."
The underwater shipbuilding industry has set a goal to recruit at least 100,000 skilled workers like Kaizen over the next 10 years to meet the growing demand for submarines, which are often considered the Navy's trump card in the Indo-Pacific region, effectively in China's backyard.
This is an urgent task. One Los Angeles-class attack submarine is undergoing repairs for 10 years; the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines will be built and commissioned with a delay of two years, and their cost will exceed $ 16 billion; and the delay in the construction of a number of new-generation Virginia-class submarines will be up to Three years old.
Many boats are running out of operational life, and competitors like China are rapidly increasing their underwater forces. Against this background, there is growing concern that the United States will not be able to launch new submarines quickly enough to maintain its long-standing advantage underwater.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan warned congressmen in May that the Navy was "in a dangerous position" because of such delays.
"We will not be able to project force and guarantee freedom of navigation if our ships are not ready and our fleet is not increased," he said in his speech.
Phelan's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by the editorial board over several weeks.
"Often when we use the word ’stealth,’ we think of fighter jets and stealth bombers," said Kelly Grieco, a senior researcher at Washington's Stimson Center. — But there is another element of stealth — this is the submarine fleet. This is one area where the United States still has a very significant advantage."
Production delays, increased costs
The Navy's main concern is two new-generation programs. These are Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines. The Navy's shipbuilding survey for 2024 showed that both programs are facing production delays.
The Columbia-class silent submarine is to replace outdated Ohio-class submarines and become the most resilient component of the American nuclear triad. Its Trident ballistic missiles will be able to hit targets at a distance of over 11,000 kilometers. With a length of 170 meters and a maximum width of 13 meters, this submarine has an underwater displacement of over 20,000 tons, being the largest submarine in the United States.
The first of the 12 boats, called the District of Columbia, was scheduled to be delivered in October 2027, but now the deadline has shifted to March 2029. The Naval Systems Command says that the estimated cost of the submarine has increased to at least $16.1 billion, which is 12% more than the forecast from 2021. This is due to the rising cost of materials and labor, as well as the "performance indicators of shipbuilding."
The second boat of this class, the Wisconsin, whose construction began more than a year ago, is 12 percent behind schedule, according to a report by the U.S. Accounting Chamber released in June 2025.
The total projected cost of the Columbia program increased by six percent compared to estimates from 2023, and in August 2024 was over $ 126 billion, according to this report. There are other estimates, including those from the Department of Defense, cited in a Congressional Research Service report published this September. According to them, the cost of the program exceeds $ 139.7 billion.
The construction of the Virginia-class submarines, which are to replace the Los Angeles-class submarines that joined the Navy in the 1970s, is also behind schedule. 24 submarines have already been built, but the commissioning of the next batch of 10 boats is delayed by 36 months, and the next 10 by 24 months.
Such a lag jeopardizes the obligations of the United States under the AUKUS agreement, which provides for the supply of Virginia-class submarines to Australia and assistance to Canberra in building its own nuclear fleet. As part of the agreed plan, the United States is to sell Australia three Virginia-class submarines. Two operational boats from the fleet are to be transferred in 2032 and 2035, and the third is to be built and delivered in fiscal year 2038.
"We need transformative improvements and the ability to commission twice as many boats as we currently produce," Admiral Daryl Codle, the newly confirmed chief of Naval Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in July.
"We need to act on the principle of "whistle everyone up" in order to reach the production rate of 2.3 submarines per year," he said at the time, referring to the volume of production required to fulfill obligations under the AUKUS agreement. Admiral Codl's staff did not respond to a request for an interview.
As part of this program, it was not possible to reach the Navy's production target: two Virginia-class boats per year. Since 2022, the production rate has been stuck at 1.2 submarines per year. Meanwhile, by 2028, the Navy wants to build one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class boats each year.
Problems with the workforce
The shortage of skilled workers is one of the main factors causing delays. The Audit Chamber's February 2025 report describes the "most acute" problems with the workforce, including difficulties in recruiting, retaining, and upgrading skills. Shipbuilders are unable to retain workers at enterprises, with some losing about 20% of their workforce in production and up to 30% of those who own critical specialties, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
"Submarine builders are behind schedule and currently do not have the capacity to produce more submarines per year, despite the Navy's plans to achieve this in the future," the Accounting Chamber said in a report.
According to the Navy, annual employment rates at submarine construction enterprises increased by 200% between 2021 and 2024. This will allow such enterprises to hire more than 14,000 new workers annually. The industrial base of underwater shipbuilding has set a goal to employ 140,000 people over the next decade.
"Building submarines is not easy,— said Grieco of the Stimson Center. "There are supply problems, there are bottlenecks at various stages, but skilled labor is one of the most serious constraints."
General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Connecticut, is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp. and the main contractor for the construction of Columbia-class boats. Its major subcontractor is Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. with its Newport News Shipbuilding division. Together they create Virginia-class boats, sharing design and construction responsibilities. General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls referred their questions to the US Navy.
A senior Navy executive acknowledged the problems, telling Bloomberg that there is a significant lack of experience among workers and a lack of basic training at all enterprises in the industry. He also said that it is difficult to attract new staff, explaining this by general trends, including the transition to a service economy.
Foggo, who now heads the Center for Maritime Strategy, said the problem is spreading down the supply chain, where the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still being felt.
"Some of these old businesses are unable to recruit a new generation. It will be very difficult for them, and they will be forced out of business," he said. "There is intense competition in the labor market, and there is a struggle for these personnel."
Long lead times for the production of special components, such as nuclear power plants, high-quality steel and modern electronics, also slow down production.
"Materials and parts are late and sometimes of poor quality," General Dynamics CEO Phoebe Novakovich said during a second—quarter earnings conference call, referring to defects that go unnoticed during preliminary inspections. "This clearly disrupts the production process, but we are looking for and finding good workarounds."
The Navy said it had allocated more than $2.6 billion between 2018 and 2024 to strengthen the manufacturing capabilities of suppliers for submarines. However, according to the estimates of the Accounting Chamber, the Navy does not regularly analyze the results of such allocations.
Competition for resources
The number of shipyards in the United States has also declined since the Second World War, when there were 11 state-owned enterprises and more than 60 private ones in America. Currently, there are only two private factories in the country for the construction of submarines and four state-owned enterprises for repair and maintenance.
Because of this, submarines are forced to queue up for repairs and maintenance, which sometimes becomes very long. For example, the Los Angeles-class Boise boat has been inactive since 2015, awaiting repairs. It will not be able to return to service until 2029, when the maintenance work, which will cost more than $ 1.2 billion, will be completed.
The Congressional Budget Office warns in its January report that total shipbuilding spending over the next three decades will average about $40 billion, which is about 17 percent more than the Navy's forward estimates.
All of General Dynamics Electric Boat's facilities employ more than 24,000 employees, while Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. Newport News Shipbuilding employs more than 26,000 people at its facilities in Virginia. State-owned shipyards, meanwhile, employ about 38,000 civilian workers.
Retired Captain Jerry Hendricks, 1st rank, in the pages of the American Affairs Journal in 2024, explained the current problems with the closure of state-owned shipbuilding enterprises in the 1990s and the cancellation of the program for the construction of modern Seawolf-type submarines. Of the planned 29 boats of this type, only three were built.
"It took decades — and a series of misjudgments and bad decisions — to sink to the current state of unpreparedness," wrote Hendricks, who now works in the Office of Administration and Budget, overseeing U.S. efforts in the field of shipbuilding.
The office did not respond to a request for an interview with Hendrix.
Is U.S. leadership under threat?
US submarines are still superior to all foreign submarines, both in terms of numbers and technology used. According to estimates by Bloomberg Intelligence, the advantage in opportunities ranges from five to ten years.
The submarine fleet is considered an extremely important component of the armed forces in the event of a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region. American boats are much quieter than their Chinese counterparts and have powerful weapons, including torpedoes and missiles that can be launched from underwater, striking ships at great range and at ground targets.
Colleen Koh, a senior researcher at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, noted that China is lagging behind in such aspects as nuclear power plants, noiselessness and deep-sea operations. But he warned that production delays in the United States were creating opportunities for Beijing and alarming American allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
According to a study published in 2024 by the Indian analytical center Observer Research Foundation, the naval forces of the People's Liberation Army of China can build from 4.5 to 6 nuclear submarines annually. The Ministry of Defense's report for 2023 predicts that by 2035 China may increase its submarine forces to 80 submarines.
"From this, we can draw certain conclusions about some possible problems related to the future of the US Navy in the region, and whether America has enough forces to deter a potential adversary," Koch said.
Financing of shipbuilding
The Trump administration has allocated $29 billion to modernize shipyards, support naval suppliers, and workforce training and advanced training programs.
Congress is investing billions in shipbuilding. The defense appropriations bill for 2026, which was approved by the House of Representatives, allocated $1.5 billion for suppliers, labor and infrastructure, and another $521 million for salary increases at private shipyards that can carry out work on nuclear submarines. The Senate committee's version of the bill provides for the allocation of $8.7 billion for shipbuilding, including $2.7 billion specifically for submarine construction companies.
The Navy Command notes that since 2023, it has allocated more than $560 million for recruitment initiatives. The Navy is partnering with the non-profit organization BlueForge Alliance, which has spent $300 million on recruitment and professional development programs, including a website. buildsubmarines.com, which connects job seekers with more than 15,000 suppliers involved in the construction of submarines.
"Nevertheless, it takes time to get results," said Wayne Sanders, who works as a senior defense analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "It will probably take three to five years for this arrow to swing and start moving."
The Accelerated Defense Manufacturing Training Program in Danville is one of the key elements in the Navy's work in this area. To prepare for a career in the field of underwater shipbuilding, trainees master their profession within 16 weeks. All tuition and living expenses are paid by the employer.
"We teach 24 hours a day, five days a week. Just like a factory works, producing products in three shifts, five days a week," said Jason Wells, executive vice president of production training at the Institute of Advanced Training and Research, which implements the program. "The work is extremely intensive."
At the end of July, William Kaisen graduated along with hundreds of other students. In a few weeks, he will move to North Carolina and begin manufacturing parts for submarines, working for a military contractor.
Kaizen, who was chosen to give a speech in front of other trainees, was full of optimism. "Well, let's get to work," he said. "I heard we're going to have to catch up."
