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Funding curb forces Virginia reality check
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| 24 January 2005 |
By Andrew Koch JDW Bureau Chief
Washington, DC
The long-term health of the US Navy's Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) - one of its most cherished programmes - appears in grave danger because of the growing cost of the war in Iraq, tightening defence budgets and mounting deficits.
According to US Department of Defense (DoD) documents, statements by senior navy officials and insider accounts, a combination of funding shortfalls and pressures from the highest levels of the DoD are moving decision-makers toward the conclusion that the Virginia-class programme should be cancelled well before its planned 30 boats will be built.
One well-placed source told JDW the navy could build as few as 10 of the boats before switching to a new design in about 2012. The service had planned to move to a substantially modified centre section design of the Virginia at about that time, which would allow far greater flexibility in the types of payload carried such as unmanned vehicles and weapons. If the new plan continues, the source said, the navy could start buying a new smaller SSN, possibly augmented by diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs) with advanced air-independent propulsion (AIP). US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, the source said, recently visited Germany to inquire about gaining access to AIP boats, although JDW was unable to verify this before going to press.
In a directive issued at the end of December 2004, Wolfowitz directed the navy to "design a future undersea superiority system alternative ... that includes considerations of new propulsion systems" and applied $600 million to the effort over the next six years. The navy has been working on a design that uses distributed pump water-jet propulsion for the past year and the source said "those involved say its going to be amazing". The same directive - Program Budget Decision 753 - also removed funds for three Virginia-class boats, keeping production rates at one per year rather than two starting in Fiscal Year 2009 as previously planned.
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