Building Submarines, Faster and on Cost

The Virginia class submarine program continues to get better and better, and the news continues to trend from good to very good. This is the result of a committed Congress, a healthy design industry, and an experienced, healthy industrial base.

Electric Boat's recent completion of the pressure-hull construction phase for the Missouri, the seventh Virginia-class submarine, in record time "is a clear indication that we are on track to hit 60 months and maybe even less," said Hilarides, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines.

EB announced last week that it had completed the Missouri's pressure hull, which is the watertight portion of the submarine, in 64 weeks - 19 weeks faster than the USS New Hampshire, which EB delivered to the Navy last year, and 81 weeks faster than the USS Virginia, the first of the class.

But this is the money quote from Rear Adm. William H. Hilarides.

”The Navy gets the ships earlier and can put more boats out to sea, doing the things the nation needs them to do,” Hilarides said. “And if the shipbuilders do it in less time, they usually do it in less money and they do better in terms of the contract price for the vessel. It's a win for them and a win for us.”

It took a plan supported despite early difficulties over a period of nearly a decade to get to this point. If this is the model for stabilizing shipbuilding programs, and it should be, the Navy needs a realistic long term surface combatant plan that everyone supports and can be properly funded and supported for at least a decade. Consistency, with extra funding to improve designs, and an evolutionary process with blocks.