Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction

By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

Congress still hasn’t decided whether to slow down the pace of building Virginia-class attack submarines, but the Pentagon has awarded General Dynamics $1.3 billion to buy long lead time materials for the program. 

According to a Pentagon statement, the contract modification is “in furtherance of the Navy’s commitment to the health and stability of the industrial base.” The work will be performed in more than a dozen states.  

General Dynamics Electric is the prime contractor for the Virginia subs. It’s building them in an arrangement with HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding. 

“This contract modification sends a crucial demand signal, enabling our suppliers to invest in the capacity and materials needed to increase production volume,” said Electric Boat President Kevin Graney. “Consistent funding for the supply base is essential to achieve the high-rate production the Navy requires of the entire submarine enterprise.” 

In June, the House passed the annual defense spending bill for fiscal 2025, valued at $833 billion. It calls for procuring just one Virginia-class submarine, instead of the two the measure usually includes. That went against the wishes of a number of Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee, who had urged partially funding a second boat.  

The dispute was triggered earlier this year when the Navy, in a move that shocked some observers, only asked for one of the submarines. Officials blamed a “struggling industrial base and stifled procurement funding stemming under Congressional spending caps.” 

Here’s a translation: the Navy is unhappy with the pace of production. And the service is hampered by a deal Congress truck that allows defense spending to increase only one percent in the coming fiscal year. Of course, once you figure in inflation, that means defense spending will actually fall.