Rep. Joe Courtney: US undersea supremacy is only growing stronger

Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut is one of the leading voices in Congress when it comes to seapower. In an exclusive op-ed with Breaking Defense, he lays out his view on the health of America’s submarines.

Seth Cropsey’s recent commentary in the Wall Street Journal on the state of the US submarine force unfortunately omits numerous recent developments that cast a much different light on this critical issue. While his focus on maintaining our advantage in the undersea domain is absolutely on target, the Navy, supported by Congress, is intensely engaged in enhancing that superiority.

His claim that our submarine fleet of 68 nuclear powered vessels is in a “dire state” ignores the fact that submarine production has been steadily increasing since 2011, when Congress doubled Virginia attack submarine production. That only sped up in 2021, when the Columbia ballistic submarine program commenced. It is true that, like manufacturing across the country, COVID slowed shipyard production. However, production tonnage of US submarines is on the rise and unprecedented investments made by Congress and the Biden Administration have positioned our submarine industrial base to grow, not contract, America’s unmatched undersea capability.

For example, on October 14th, the Navy will commission the 22nd boat in the Virginia-class submarine program, the USS Hyman G. Rickover, in Connecticut. Shortly thereafter in New Jersey, the Navy will commission the 23rd boat in the program, the USS New Jersey. This comes after the Navy commissioned two Virginia submarines last year – the USS Oregon and USS Montana – demonstrating the two-per-year delivery rate that had slowed in 2020 and 2021 is moving back on schedule. At present, there are 13 additional submarines in the production queue.

That’s new production, but it’s important to note the number of existing submarines repaired and ready for deployment is not as “dire” as Mr. Cropsey stated. Yes, earthquake repairs to the Navy’s drydocks in Puget Sound did delay ship availability. However, since May, the operational availability of attack submarines has increased from 60 to 67 percent – higher than the out-of-date number Cropsey cited. And Adm. William Houston, head of the submarine force, has the Navy on pace to hit 80 percent by 2028.

His new approach to attack submarine maintenance, which couples a 15-year attack submarine maintenance plan and a $1.7 billion investment in maintenance, will enable the Department to better predict maintenance and ensure spare parts are on shelves before repairs are even required— accelerating turnaround time.

Most importantly though, the article omits critical investments to grow the submarine industrial base that will dramatically increase capacity for higher production.

First, in 2022, the Biden Administration embarked on a five-year, $2.4 billion investment in the submarine industrial base to boost hiring and spread the work across the supply chain, in order to take pressure off primary shipyards like Electric Boat in New England and Newport News in Virginia. This has already yielded positive results with contracts awarded to Austal shipyard in Alabama to build modules for Electric Boat and Newport News. Millions of man hours will be added to US submarine construction with this effort.

Second, the Australian government, as part of the AUKUS security agreement, has committed an eye-watering $3 billion investment into our submarine industrial base.

Taken together, these record investments totaling $5.4 billion are sending a clear demand signal to the industrial base that this enterprise is in for the long haul.

RELATED: Rep. Joe Courtney: To make AUKUS work, Congress should look to the past

This strong demand signal is already bearing fruit. In calendar year 2022, Electric Boat hired a total of 3,800 employees. In the first eight months of this calendar year, the shipyard hired 4,000 new workers and is well on its way to meet and even exceed its hiring goal of 5,750 employees. Between Electric Boat’s two facilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut, 21,000 people are now hard at work, over double the number from 10 years ago. This is not a coincidence, but the result of an aggressive campaign to identify new prospective talent pools, train candidates at regional manufacturing pipelines, and get them into the shipyards to begin work.

This boon is not isolated to Electric Boat. The investments funded by Congress are now supporting nearly 200 suppliers in 31 states, with overall capacity increased by 10 percent.

While we still have considerable work to do, Mr. Cropsey’s suggestion to purchase foreign-made, non-nuclear diesel submarines from Japan and South Korea is not a logical answer.

Taiwan recently launched its first domestic submarine, while Japan and South Korea operate a combined fleet of over 40 non-nuclear boats, regularly patrolling these waters. These nations, as noted by Mr. Cropsey, are strengthening their ties, with ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel’s terrific work bearing fruit in trilateral efforts. Trying to pull from their domestic production to fill our needs could throw a wrench into that process.

But even if it made sense to pull in foreign subs, bringing back non-nuclear submarines into the US fleet doesn’t make sense at this point.

There is a compelling rationale behind the United States’ decision to phase out non-nuclear submarines more than three decades ago. The concluding chapter of this era unfolded in 1990 with the decommissioning of the USS Blueback. Non-nuclear submarines pose unique logistical challenges, particularly during remote or extended deployments. This holds true for foreign government-constructed forward-deployed submarines, without even delving into the lack of established training pipelines required to prepare the new generation of US sailors for this endeavor.

Non-nuclear submarines of course would have a role to play in a conflict — but it’s not a role that the US needs to be filling when we have more high-end capabilities to offer. For example, the USS Arizona, a Virginia-class Block V submarine currently under construction, will introduce the Virginia Payload Module, featuring 12 Vertical Launch Cells capable of deploying hypersonic cruise missiles. This reinforces America’s foremost advantage, as Mr. Cropsey highlighted: our submarine fleet, the  most advanced, extensive, and capable in the world. We are on the path to continue to deliver an unmatched fleet of underwater dominance, getting distracted at this juncture to pursue tactics and strategies that our greatest pacific allies already practice daily would be a mistake.

Yes, our submarine industrial base slowed during the COVID era. Does that mean that it is a static picture that cannot improve? No. The enterprise will improve assuming precious Navy dollars continue to be invested in the industrial base just as they were during the Cold War. We should not go back in time and expend resources on conventionally powered submarines that we know do not have the necessary range or capability required for the pacing threat to our Navy’s fleet in the Indo-Pacific.

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut is the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces.