Congress must summon General Dynamics Electric Boat executives and Navy to testify on submarine delays
Tom Rogan
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When it comes to the U.S. military’s greatest challenge, China’s People’s Liberation Army stands apart. The PLA’s air defense destroyers, long-range missiles, and outsize forces pose potent threats. Fortunately, the United States retains at least one major advantage over the PLA: its undersea capabilities. In particular, submarine forces.
Unfortunately, the U.S. has a problem: Construction of the latest version of the Virginia-class attack submarines is greatly delayed. The sneaky USS Jimmy Carter aside (which has an intimate familiarity with Chinese and Russian coastlines), the Virginia-class attack submarines are the best submarines in the world. They are rivaled only by the United Kingdom’s Astute-class attack submarines (capability comparable but significantly cheaper). The problem is that the U.S. Navy doesn’t have enough Virginia-class vessels. Considering that the U.S. military may soon be at war with China over Taiwan and that the submarine manufacturing problems are long-standing, the Navy and manufacturer General Dynamics Electric Boat (a subsidiary of General Dynamics) must be made to answer for these delays.
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A new report from the Government Accountability Office lays out the grave measure of the problem.
The report notes that Electric Boat has systematically failed to resolve existing problems with its manufacturing schedule. As the GAO puts it, “The program now estimates construction of each Block V submarine will take an average of over 2 years longer than reported last year. The delays are due to problems meeting original staffing and work efficiency estimates.”
Costs are also going up. The GAO reports, “While the fixed price incentive contract set target and ceiling prices for each submarine, program officials reported that the [Virginia-class] shipbuilders have not met the work efficiency and material cost estimates that informed the target pricing. Consequently, the Navy plans to request more funds to complete Block V, as its prior budget requests covered the target prices, but not up to the ceiling prices.”
More money for less product. What great value. It gets worse.
To advance construction of the new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines (which will carry nuclear weapons), Electric Boat has reassigned workers from the Virginia-class construction efforts. But even Columbia faces problems. The GAO reported, “In September 2022, we reported that the Navy cannot rely on the shipbuilder’s schedule for the lead submarine to plan for on-time delivery because it did not substantially meet all of our leading practices for program schedules. Meeting these leading practices would enable the program to determine how schedule risks affect the program’s ability to meet key dates, such as delivery.”
Congress should find this intolerable.
While it’s true that Electric Boat has suffered staffing shortages and supply chain challenges, company President Kevin Graney suggested in November 2021 that these problems were on a path to resolution. The GAO has shown that the problems are unresolved. The PLA is set to benefit most and taxpayers least. Electric Boat’s website claims it “has established standards of excellence in the design, construction, and life-cycle support of submarines for the U.S. Navy.” Yes, Electric Boat’s situation is only part of a broader military-industrial malaise. Still, these delays demand accountability.
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Sadly, Electric Boat doesn’t seem terribly interested in offering it. Asked by the Washington Examiner for comment on the GAO’s report and the related staffing-supply crisis, an Electric Boat spokesperson responded, “We appreciate you reaching out to us for your story. However, I need to refer you to the Navy for comment on the GAO report.”
Translation: Blame the Navy, not us.
The House Armed Services Committee should act. It should summon the head of the Navy’s Sea Systems Command, Adm. William Galinis, Graney, Electric Boat’s Chief Supply Officer Beth Rafferty, and Virginia-class manager Larry Runkle to testify. They must answer as to why these delays have not been resolved and what they intend to do to address these failures.