Since reporting aboard and joining the crew here at Legal Insurrection, I have reported on a couple instances of Navy submarines having maintenance/availability issues.First, there is a pretty serious issue brewing with the ballistic missile submarine replacement program and potentially significant delays to the program, which could have important national security implications: Delays with New Strategic Nuclear Missile Submarine Program Could Damage National Defense, GAO Reports:
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), which provides “the public with timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government,” recently released a report raising concerns about the Navy’s Columbia Class ballistic (read nuclear) missile submarine program.“After more than a year of full-scale construction on the lead Columbia submarine, the shipbuilders are facing delays because of challenges with design, materials, and quality.” Making matters worse, the lead shipbuilder on the project, General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Division (Electric Boat), has not conducted a “schedule risk analysis.” “Both GAO leading practices and Department of Defense (DOD) guidance identify schedule risk analysis as a critical tool for understanding and managing program risks that could impact the schedule.” The GAO explains that without the schedule risk analysis being conducted, “programs have limited insight into how schedule risks could affect the likelihood of achieving key program milestones, including delivery, and the amount of margin—or a reserve of extra time—needed to manage critical risks and avoid delays.” The GAO concludes, “[c]hallenges delivering Columbia class submarines on time could have consequences for the nation’s defense.”
What kind of “consequences for the nation’s defense” are we talking about? Well, just about the worst imaginable:
And it is imperative that this sub, with a price tag of $132 billion for the 12-boat program, the lead ship of which is now under construction at Electric Boat, not experience any delays. This could lead to a reduced number of available SSBN assets as the Ohio Class SSBNs begin to decommission. In a worse-case scenario, this could, therefore, cause a potential gap in SSBN deterrent patrol coverage. Or, as the Congressional Research Service puts it: “The [i]issues … include … the risk—due to technical challenges and/or funding-related issues—of a delay in designing and building the lead Columbia-class boat, which could put at risk the Navy’s ability to have the boat ready for its first scheduled deterrent patrol…when it is to deploy in the place of the first retiring Ohio-class SSBN.” However you phrase it, though, it doesn’t take much imagination to realize the seriousness of a situation in which the Nation’s “survivable system for carrying out a retaliatory nuclear attack” is detrimentally impacted.
So the nuclear ballistic missile submarines are at risk. Surely the attack submarine force, which concentrates on anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, as well as intel collection, is picking up the slack. Turns out, not so much: Nearly 40% of U.S. Attack Submarines are Out of Commission:
As if the military recruiting disaster or the Biden Administration’s embrace of woke and transgender policies for the military wasn’t bad enough, now we find out that almost 40% of U.S. attack submarines, or SSNs, the kind that shoot Tomahawk missiles at land targets and torpedoes at all types of vessels at sea, and conduct intelligence collection missions, i.e. the kind critical for the defense of Taiwan, are out-of-commission and stuck in naval shipyards.From Bloomberg:
Delays at naval shipyards mean that nearly 40% of US attack submarines are out of commission for repairs, about double the rate the Navy would like, according to new data released by the service.As of this year, 18 of the US Navy’s 49 attack submarines — 37% — were out of commission, according to previously undisclosed Navy data published by the Congressional Research Service. That leaves the US at a critical disadvantage against China’s numerically superior fleet.The maintenance backlog has “substantially reduced” the number of nuclear submarines operational at any given moment, cutting the “force’s capacity for meeting day-to-day mission demands and potentially putting increased operational pressure” on submarines that are in service, CRS naval analyst Ronald O’Rourke said in a July 6 report.
Worst of all, the trendline is bad and getting worse, as the 37% out-of-commission rate is “up from 28% overall in 2017 and 33% in 2022, and below the industry best practice of 20%.” “The best year for attack sub availability was fiscal 2015 when 19% — or 10 of the then 53 subs — were in overhaul, according to figures contained in a June 13 Navy information paper.”
So the submarine force is in woeful shape, but surely the surface navy is leading the way and showing the submarine force how it’s done, right?
Wrong.
Check this out from recent military.com reporting: After 2-Year Overhaul, Navy Confirms USS Boxer Can’t Get Underway:
The USS Boxer, one of the Navy’s amphibious warships, is struggling to get to sea despite recently coming out of a maintenance period that cost the Navy $200 million and was supposed to ready the ship for the service’s newest fighter jet.The Boxer was supposed to go to sea on July 21 but couldn’t “because of ongoing maintenance issues,” Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesman for the Naval Surface Force, told Military.com in a statement.The Navy did not offer details on what issues specifically kept the ship in port, citing “operational security,” but Abrahamson was clear that “the Boxer’s preparation for sea trials identified additional maintenance requirements before the ship could get underway.”The problems for the Boxer come at a time when they should be least expected — about a year after the ship left a maintenance period that began in the summer of 2020 and cost $200 million, according to a statement from BAE systems, the contractor for the work.The most notable upgrade was a new deck that would be able to support the new F-35B Lightning II strike fighter. However, the ship also received work on its hull as well as tank and mechanical work and “other shipboard improvements,” according to BAE’s statement.The ship began its service in the Navy in 1995, nearly 30 years ago.Abrahamson confirmed that the Boxer completed this maintenance period “in mid-2022, undergoing upgrades and modernizations to the ship” while other Navy statements highlighted the fact that this overhaul lasted “more than two years.”After the maintenance period, the ship briefly put to sea in June 2022. Images posted online show the ship at sea with an F-35B fighter flying near the ship’s deck. However, it appears that’s the only time the ship managed to set sail since leaving the shipyards.Abrahamson said that after this cruise, the “Boxer executed additional maintenance requirements in preparation for its sea trial period,” but those sea trials have yet to take place.”The ship expects to begin sea trials in the near future as part of its workup cycle for deployment,” Abrahamson said.
Alarmingly, Abrahamson said that part of the problem is “specific instances of maintenance casualties,” which he can’t discuss “due to operational security.” “Maintenance casualties” usually means damage to various equipment due to shoddy repair workmanship or improper retesting upon completion of repair work. Neither situation is good.
And, “Boxer’s sister ship, the Bonhomme Richard, was lost to fire in July 2020. Despite the loss of the Bonhomme Richard and the unavailability of the Boxer, Abrahamson said the Navy was been able to meet ‘every global force demand‘ for its amphibious forces in 2022.”
That statement is consistent with other Navy puff piece statements about Boxer. In fact, in April, while this disaster was unfolding, the Navy ran a ridiculous article highlighting the “foundation of excellence” aboard USS Boxer:
If you want to see a Navy team dedicated to keeping a culture of excellence, look no further than the deck department aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4).The officers, boatswain’s mates (BMs) and undesignated seamen who make up the deck department on Boxer maintain the highest Navy standards because they know their work is essential to the mission………This is one example of why professionalism, pride, and discipline are fundamental elements of the concept of readiness. A professional crew working like an engine is what makes a ship ready to complete any mission it is assigned. This is a mindset professionalism and high performance that creates a culture where crews thrive.According to Williams, no one knows this better than deck department as material readiness and shipboard preservation are core to the mission of any ship.
Someone needs to put the Navy public affairs people in overhaul.
And we aren’t the only ones who have noticed:
The Navy needs to right the ship ASAP. How that’s going to happen under Joe Biden’s leadership is anyone’s guess.
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