Save Our Subs: Prioritizing The Attack Submarine

http://defense.aol.com/2013/04/09/save-our-subs-prioritizing-the-attack-submarine/



A $5 to $7 billion dollar Virgina-class sub.

Save Our Subs: Prioritizing The Attack Submarine
By Rep. Randy Forbes and Rep. Joe Courtney
Published: April 9, 2013

For a host of security and economic reasons, American foreign and defense policy will increasingly focus on the Asia-Pacific region in the decades ahead. With over 60% of all U.S. exports going to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries and 40% of total global trade emanating from Asia-Pacific, the United States cannot be an impartial observer of events in the region.

That interest should be heightened by the accelerating military and particularly naval buildup that is playing out across East Asia and the Western Pacific in response to China's rapid and opaque military modernization efforts. Countries from Vietnam to the Philippines to Japan are responding to Beijing's recent assertiveness and growing military capabilities by investing in advanced systems of their own, fostering a potentially volatile climate in the economically-essential waters of East Asia.

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Attack submarines, known as SSNs in Navy parlance, are the workhorses of the submarine service. Designed for both offensive and defensive purposes - from conducting intelligence and inserting Special Operations Forces to launching targeted missile strikes and countering enemy submarines and surface vessels - SSNs and their diverse capabilities will be essential in the future Asia-Pacific security environment. Yet their numbers have declined dramatically in the last generation, from nearly 100 in 1987 to just 53 today. Even more alarmingly, the Los Angeles-class of SSNs, which comprise the majority of Navy attack submarines, are retiring faster than they are being replaced. The Navy has stated it requires 48 SSNs to execute current missions, but given the current rates of replacement, the SSN force is scheduled to drop below the stated minimum in less than a decade. Indeed, if current levels of procurement are unaltered, the SSN fleet will fall to roughly 40 boats in the early 2030s.

The Navy's attempt to rectify this dangerous path is the Virginia-class SSN. The most technologically advanced attack submarine ever built, the Virginia offers the Navy a tremendous array of capabilities across a wide-range of mission areas. After a concerted effort by the Navy and industry to reduce costs and improve delivery schedules, not to mention significant bipartisan support from Congress, the program finally hit the doubled production goal in 2011. And, just last month, Congress reaffirmed its broad support for the program by backing sustained two-a-year production of this submarine in the next multi-year procurement (MYP) contract, which is currently being negotiated by the Navy and industry.



unhappycamper comment: So randy and joe think $5+ billion dollars for more Virgina-class submarines are the way to go.

No problem. What are you going to drop for each $5+ billion dollar price? One of your $5+ billion dollar Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers? Your $16 to $40 billion dollar Ford-class aircraft carrier? Your $243 million dollar F-35? Medicare? Social Security? Food stamps?

What don't you guys have a bake sale or two to pay for this crap.