![]() ![]() In incidents like this, the first reports are almost always wrong. Either way, the workers needed to repair the USS Connecticut will be taken off of other jobs-there’s absolutely no slack in the sub production and repair community to handle contingencies like this. The four taxpayer-owned Navy yards, tasked with handling the Navy’s complex, nuclear-powered boats, are already overtasked. They are already stretched thin with the work they have. The private shipyards, tasked to fabricate enormous new Columbia class ballistic missile submarines. The repairs themselves will either be conducted at a private yard or in a taxpayer-owned navy hard. If the Connecticut is severely damaged, the Navy and Congress may need to consider ramping Virginia class submarine production up from two subs a year to three, helping to make up for the missing undersea warfighter. The newer Virginia class attack submarines are still entering service, and the submarine defense industrial base is struggling to keep up with never-ending demands for more attack submarines. Most of America’s 28 remaining Los Angeles class subs are reaching the end of their service lives, and facing rapid “block” retirements. With not a lot of slack available, the loss will be felt quickly. If the USS Connecticut is out of action for a similar amount of time, America’s sub deployment and refit schedules will be disrupted. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but if the 2009 collision of the USS Hartford (SSN 768) is any guide, that accident put USS Hartford out of action for two years. Without the threat of a lurking Seawolf class sub, China may feel far more secure in threatening Taiwan and other regional neighbors. There should be no surprise that a Seawolf was operating in the area.īut America only has three Seawolf class submarines. In short, a Seawolf class sub is just the type of submarine America needs to safely poke about in the closely watched and often contested areas off Taiwan, Hainan and the islets of the Philippines and Vietnam. ![]() service are something of a step back, a more cost-effective design for a post-Cold War world. The newer Virginia class submarines that are entering U.S. A Cold War sub, first designed to penetrate the Soviet Union’s well-defended missile submarine “bastions,” the Seawolf class is faster, more heavily armed and better equipped with sensors than America’s Cold War stalwart, the Los Angeles class submarine. In a strategic sense, the three Seawolf class submarines are likely to be quite useful in the South China Sea region. If the damage is significant, the loss risks disrupting America’s deterrence-based Pacific strategy, shaking up everything from Taiwan defense strategy to discussions on Australia-U.K.-U.S. ![]() A high-demand asset, the sub will be prioritized for repair, stressing already maxed-out U.S. The USS Connecticut is an important part of America’s undersea arsenal. The damaged Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) Getty Images ![]()
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