Congress must summon General Dynamics Electric Boat executives and Navy to testify on submarine delays

  • 📰 dcexaminer
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 65 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 29%
  • Publisher: 94%

Energy Energy Headlines News

Energy Energy Latest News,Energy Energy Headlines

'Yes, Electric Boat's situation is only part of a broader military-industrial malaise. Still, these delays demand accountability. Sadly, Electric Boat doesn't seem terribly interested in offering it.' -TomRtweets

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 , 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 . The problem is that the U.S. Navy doesn't have enough Virginia-class vessels. Considering that the U.S.

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.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 6. in ENERGY

Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines