Never a great notion

"How could we get so mired in the muck so fast on this issue? Remember the saying, 'I am from the government and here to help'? This is typical of how the government operates. Enough said. Full stop."  

Has anybody else heard the deep dark secret? The one about our Navy? Specifically, the one about our attack submarines? This is a huge problem, and I am amazed it is not getting more press. Right now, our Virginia class submarines, which are a techno marvel, are way, way short of the numbers we should have. Why is that? Lack of focus by the administration. 

Our path to this conundrum is a bit circuitous. Since we have had "boomers" (subs that carry nuclear missiles), we have also had attack submarines. Some refer to them as "hunter-killers". For years, we had the Los Angles class of attack subs. Tom Clancy wrote about them in The Hunt for Red October. But as time marched on, the Los Angles class started to age out. And in today's environment, they became too noisy. So, the Virginia class was developed to replace the Los Angles class of subs.

I should mention however, the Seawolf class of subs. That WAS going to be the replacement for the Los Angles class, but the cost per sub became a real deal breaker. Instead of building dozens of these marvelous boats, we built only three. To date, the Seawolf is still the best and quietest sub in the world - hands down.

The Navy now had a problem. Instead of a Rolls Royce type of sub, they needed to build a Cadilac instead. The Virginia class, a very good submarine, but not as good as the Seawolf, came into being. THAT would be the replacement for the Los Angles class. So, what then, is the problem? To fit the Navy's needs, as well as any FMS (foreign military sales), we needed the capacity to build two subs a year. And that - is not happening.

This more cost-effective program, to save the high costs of building the Seawolf, is $17B overbudget and three years behind. Additionally, the industrial capacity to build two subs a year is absent. Instead of building two a year, the administration is only funding one per year. Since we don't have the capacity to build two a year, that might make sense. However, the Chinese are building subs like crazy right now. With everything going on in the world, we need to catch up - and catch up fast! 

This could have been a great notion, but it was not. Now we are left in a pickle. We need to increase our capacity to build subs. Some estimates are we need an additional 10,000 trained workers, as well as additional plant capacity.

How could we get so mired in the muck so fast on this issue? Remember the saying, "I am from the government and here to help"? This is typical of how the government operates. Enough said. Full stop.