Navy 2023 Budget: $541 Million Urgently Requested for Submarine Industrial Base

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

The Navy leadership and members of Congress continue to advocate for a sustained uptick in Virginia-class attack submarine production in coming years to help offset an anticipated deficit when more Los-Angeles class boats retire.

For many years now, the combatant commander demand for submarines has exceeded the number of available boats, a circumstance driving the Navy to advocate for faster construction of Virginia-class boats and analyze options to expand the US industrial base capacity such that it can successfully accommodate a needed procurement acceleration.

Navy’s 2023 Budget Request

The Navy’s 2023 budget requests seems to reflect this urgency, as the service is requesting $541 million to “invest” in the submarine industrial base. 

This is quite significant, as it will enable the service and its industry partners to train and retain the skilled workforce needed to propel sustained construction and innovation. The investment will also support large-scale increases in supply chain capacity, strategic outsourcing to more vendors and the core shipbuilding infrastructure itself, Rear Admiral John Gumbleton, Deputy Assistant Secretary Of The Navy For Budget, told reporters, according to a Pentagon transcript.

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Expanding infrastructure can help enable the Navy to pursue its longstanding ambition of building three Virginia-class submarines per year in coming years, without compromising development and manufacturing for the now-underway Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.