[By Guancha Observer Network, Mountain Cat]

According to USNI News reports, on the 14th local time, US Navy Secretary John Folan, US Navy Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James Kilby, and Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith attended a hearing of the House Defense Appropriations Committee in Washington to testify regarding the fiscal year 2026 military budget request. For Folan, the central issue before the subcommittee was to push the already delayed Columbia-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine project back on track, as well as seeking to accelerate the construction and delivery of the Virginia-class attack nuclear submarines.

The scene of the aft module of the Columbia-class submarine being shipped from Newport News to General Dynamics Electric Boat's Groton shipyard in April 2024 remains the only publicly available photo of the Columbia-class strategic ballistic missile nuclear submarine. General Dynamics Electric Boat Company.

Folan told the committee that his top priority was to rectify the nuclear submarine program, strengthening shipbuilding capabilities and the maritime industrial base being his three key areas of focus since becoming Navy Secretary. Referring to the modification of the contract terms for the Virginia-class submarines this April, he said that the previously used cost-plus contracts had severely eroded the defense budget, and future fixed-price contracts with additional incentive clauses would be adopted to constrain this. The U.S. Navy will share more risks with the shipbuilding enterprises.

In his prepared testimony, he also stated that the Navy Department has long been plagued by poor management decisions, cumbersome bureaucratic processes leading to inefficiency, and improper funding allocation, which have caused delays in shipbuilding schedules and serious cost overruns. Wasting taxpayers' money, maintenance backlog, and critical modernization efforts have all fallen behind. He also stated at the hearing that he would face the strengths, weaknesses, and "ugly truths" of the current naval shipbuilding industry head-on; the pressing matter now is to get ships into the water.

At the start of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert, a Republican representative from California, noted that the delivery of the first boat of the Columbia class, SSBN-826 "Columbia," faced a delay of 18 to 24 months. This is the Navy's highest-priority project, yet it has encountered such issues. On the other hand, the delays in the Virginia-class submarines are only expected to worsen due to the impact of the Columbia-class. Currently, an average of only 1.2 Virginia-class submarines are built annually, far below the normal requirement of two per year. Worse still, the AUKUS agreement between the U.S., UK, and Australia requires supplying submarines to Australia so that its navy can have a conventional-armed nuclear submarine fleet by the late 2030s to early 2040s.

In response, Folan recounted the clear understanding he gained after visiting shipyards in the U.S. and abroad over the past two months. He stated that the delays in the "Columbia" could be attributed to various factors, including the complexity of being the lead ship of a new model, a skills gap among workers in private shipyards, persistent supply chain disruptions, and insufficient modernization of shipyard infrastructure. In short, the U.S. industrial base has been depleted, with severe shortages in docks, dry docks, and other infrastructure. During his visit to Japan, he found that single-shift productivity there was "three times higher," with significantly fewer bureaucratic documents to handle, and more on-site automation training and practice.

It seems that Folan's claim that "Japanese shipbuilding efficiency is three times higher than in the U.S." is not easily dismissed as either alarmist or a last-minute attempt to save face for the U.S.

Acting Chief of Naval Operations Kilby stated in written testimony that the U.S. Navy's operational needs require a force of 66 attack nuclear submarines, while the current fleet only has 47, far below this standard. As of April this year, 24 different versions of the Virginia-class submarines have been delivered, and 14 have been contracted for construction. Additionally, five Columbia-class strategic missile nuclear submarines are currently under construction.

Kilby stated that extending the service life of some Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines before the commissioning of the Columbia-class submarines can ensure the continuity of sea-based nuclear deterrence. The U.S. Navy is also fully focused on enduring operations in what it calls the "Indo-Pacific region." He hopes to further expand the optional weapons spectrum, increase ammunition stockpiles, and focus on boosting the production capacity of currently used "Standard" SM-6 and long-range missiles, which are used in the Red Sea against Houthi armed groups in Yemen. He stated that the U.S. Navy fleet is still striving to achieve the goal of an 80% readiness rate by January 1, 2027, which was proposed by former Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti as part of her "Project 33."

However, the achievement of this goal does not seem ideal, especially within the Marine Corps. General Eric Smith, Commandant of the Marine Corps, stated that the current readiness level of the amphibious fleet is approximately 40%. He advocates maintaining three always-ready amphibious forces (Amphibious Ready Groups), one each on the East and West Coasts of the U.S., and another deployed in Okinawa, Japan, to ensure rapid response and flexible deployment for theater commanders. However, due to the shortage of amphibious vessels, even with sufficiently trained Marines, it is impossible to guarantee the deployment plans of three Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs). If this trend continues, the proficiency of the troops will decrease, amphibious combat experience will diminish, and risks will increase during training and future operations.

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7505037012299153970/

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