The Navy’s Virginia class of attack submarines is one of the Pentagon’s most successful weapons programs. It consistently delivers the world’s most capable multi-role submarines on time and on budget. But the Navy doesn’t have enough attack subs, and that problem is growing: legacy subs are being retired faster than new ones are being commissioned. That could pose a challenge for warfighters, because few of the missions assigned to attack subs can be performed by other types of vessels. The Navy has recently raised its fleet objective for attack subs from 48 to 66 in response to emerging threats, but even with bigger defense budgets from the Trump administration, it won’t reach its goal until mid-century. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
Find Archived Articles: