Submarine construction has become a major concern for the U.S. military. Due to the decline of the shipbuilding industry, submarine construction not only lags in schedule but also frequently exceeds budget. Under pressure from the U.S. military, General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is currently responsible for the construction of Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, is seeking engineering breakthroughs by introducing "collaborative robots." These robotic arms that work alongside humans are currently used for cutting and welding steel plates, significantly reducing working time. It is reported that the assembly process for the Columbia-class nuclear submarine has been directly shortened from 180 days to 65 days.

America is introducing robots to build nuclear submarines

The "First Defense" website in America described it this way: In a submarine manufacturing workshop almost as large as an American football field, the sound of machines running and metal colliding never ceased. A supervisor suddenly shouted, "What you're about to see is a performance!" As he spoke, bright white sparks flew everywhere, and a black-and-white robotic arm, with the assistance of a welder, began cutting steel plates for the sections of a Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine.

This massive and time-consuming task is now significantly accelerated by "collaborative robots," which speed up the cutting and welding of steel. Gary, a senior executive at General Dynamics Electric Boat, stated during a scheduled press tour that large-scale welding operations are very energy-intensive. However, since 2023, when the company introduced "collaborative robots" for cutting, and expanded to welding operations in 2024, the efficiency of the production line has seen significant improvements.

According to reports, each "collaborative robot" is equipped with an operator. Young welders are fond of them, as once the program is set, the robot can automatically complete cutting and welding, which is both labor-saving and safe, and saves hundreds of hours of work time.

It is worth noting that the introduction of robot technology into submarine construction highlights the difficulties the United States has faced in the submarine manufacturing sector in recent years. The U.S. Navy's submarine construction plans, as well as the overall shipbuilding industry, generally lag behind budget and schedule. The main reasons include shortages of skilled labor, insufficient wage competitiveness, and weak supply chains. For example, the first Columbia-class submarine is at least one year behind schedule, and according to current assessments, it is expected to be completed by 2029. If there are unexpected issues or supply chain crises, the completion date may be further delayed.

The U.S. Navy has a huge demand for nuclear submarines, but its capacity is not strong

The U.S. Navy has always regarded submarines as a "card" for "great power competition" and emphasized that at least 66 nuclear submarines are needed to execute global strategic deterrence missions. However, due to the decline of the shipbuilding industry, the U.S. military currently only has 49 truly capable attack nuclear submarines.

At the current construction pace, the United States can only produce about 1.2 attack submarines per year. If the capacity can be increased to two per year, the number of U.S. submarines is expected to rise to 50 by 2036. Under the most optimistic forecast, the fleet size will reach 66 by 2049. But for the U.S. Navy, 2049 is too far away, and this is even the most optimistic assessment after capacity improvement.

According to the U.S. Navy's assessment, once China finalizes the design of its new generation of submarines, supported by powerful shipbuilding capabilities, its annual output will reach three times that of the United States. This puts Washington under great pressure, so increasing capacity is imperative. In this context, they have introduced robots to try to alleviate the issue of production efficiency.

However, robots cannot completely replace human labor. General Electric Company said: Although they are continuously advancing automation technology, they do not expect robots to complete all submarine construction work on their own, because some processes cannot be done by robots. Welders still need to manually perform certain operations, especially some weld seams must be manually polished to meet the construction specifications of submarines.

For the U.S. military, submarine manufacturing capacity is a big problem

In addition, although robots help improve work efficiency, the problem of delays in U.S. submarine construction cannot be fully resolved. General Dynamics not only faces uneven delivery times from suppliers, but also encounters bottlenecks in production space.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532321206624682511/

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