“The US Navy is in urgent need for new attack submarines to meet the global challenges. The units are insufficient to carry out patrols throughout the world “.
So says Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy, deputy commander of Naval Operations to the committee responsible for the Armed Forces and the Subcommittee of the naval projection of the US Navy.
“The submarine threats continue to increase. Today we have 52 submarines in service, but by 2029 their number will drop to 41. The Chinese, for that year, will own at least 70 submarines in service. No country has reached the quality level of our ships but the Russians have put into production many high-end platforms that outnumber us.”
The Mulloy concerns have also been confirmed by the Department for research, development and acquisition of the Navy.
“Unfortunately we need submarines, we may begin to lose the superiority in the sea since the end of 2020. We pay for the incorrect decisions taken after the end of the Cold War, when we could put in the yard only one submarine per year. Now, despite the reconstruction of our submarine fleet is officially resumed, it will take time and money but we have neither one nor the other. We have, rather, a budget to observe that does not allow us a large-scale production. The fiscal reality does not take into account the military strategy.”
The Navy recognizes the problems and is trying to increase the production of the Virginia class attack submarines (after closing the expensive class “Seawolf” limited to three ships), so as to mitigate the impact associated with the beginning of the withdrawal of the ships class “Los Angeles” from 2021. Twelve ships of the Virginia class are operating, while sixteen others were planned and awaiting funding. The Navy, which has already launched a study for a new ballistic missile submarine to replace the Ohio class, plans to raise funds for an additional four submarines Virginia. The Ohio, only American class to perform patrol with nuclear weapons, will begin to withdraw at the rate of one per year, starting from 2029 when they will reach the end of their operational life of 42 years.
Source: Il Giornale