Concerns arise over US nuclear submarine shortage

There are growing concerns tonight about a shortage of American nuclear submarine power. This comes as China increases its fleet. Here’s chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin. Submarines have a unique role in securing the peace. Their ability to move unchallenged through through the seas all around the world is an incredible asymmetric advantage. The problem? the US does not have enough submarines for itself. Old Subs are being retired faster than they can be replaced. The Pentagon is 17 nuclear attack submarines short of Navy requirements and needs to build 2.33 Virginia class submarines per year to meet its August commitments Under Secretary of the Navy Eric Raven, Overseas Navy Strategy and Shipbuilding. the US Submarine Industrial Base is an estimated 33 years behind schedule. Why is it so behind and backed up? In 2011, the United States basically doubled its orders for nuclear powered submarines. All told, in the last 15 years our demand for industry to produce submarines has gone up by roughly 5 times. Republican Senator Roger Wicker has raised alarm bells, inserting $3.4 billion into the Ukraine funding supplemental to jumpstart the anemic shipbuilding base. We’ve yet to take the actions necessary to ensure that our industrial base can support both the United States and Australia. The basic fact is this, our defense industrial base is not where it needs to be. We’re going through a generational change in the workforce at our shipyards and also our suppliers. And so we need to build new talent, bring in more Americans to work in this sector and also on supply chain. COVID was a significant interruption in our ability to do business over the next several decades. We need to hire about 100,000 Americans to build submarines. We’re partnering with even community colleges and nonprofits. One of those nonprofits is Blue Forge Alliance, a campaign to attract young people into submarine building, an appeal to patriotism. A modern day Uncle Sam wants you. There are literally 10s of thousands of opportunities over the coming decade and more for long term family sustaining, generational jobs that have a really important purpose. The ability to serve your country in a job that you go to every day is an enormous sense of pride. How would the supplemental help you with the investment in the industrial base? It accelerates everything. Six months ago, the president asked Congress for $3.4 billion to accelerate investments into industry so we can produce the submarines that we need, and I urge the Congress to pass that as soon as possible. In this year’s defense budget proposal, the Navy is seeking a total of $3.9 billion for the submarine industrial base, a $2.9 billion increase from last year. China right now is building a submarine wall. What does that mean? I don’t focus as much on what our adversaries are doing as accelerating our capabilities. We have an incredibly capable submarine force that’s capable of tackling any challenge that our adversaries may pose. So you can breakthrough any submarine wall. Our submarines are incredibly capable. At the Pentagon. Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.