Kris Osborn writes General Dynamics‘ Electric Boat subsidiary and Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Newport News Shipbuilding division have built Virginia-class submarines at a production rate of two annually through a cooperative agreement.
The Navy is projected to face a shortfall in the number of underwater vehicles it operates as the branch plans to retire more Los Angeles-class submarines, the report said.
âWe are going to drop below the minimum requirement of 48 attack submarines even with the two-per-year build rate,” Rear Adm. Joseph Tofalo, Navy director of undersea warfare, told DoD Buzz.
Tofalo added he expects industry partners to submit feedback in May regarding the service’s proposed submarine production capacity increase.