Retired Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy Seth Cropsey for the WSJ:
The U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet, however, is in lamentable shape. Of the total U.S. fleet, about 40% of vessels are in maintenance and repair facilities at any given time. This puts the fleet at roughly 30 deployable boats at best, rather than the 40 to 45 expected at operating level. In addition, the Navy is retiring two submarines a year on average, but building only three every two years, leading to a net annual decline. U.S. production looks unable to reverse this. The issue isn’t yards—although another short-term maintenance yard would ease the stress on larger facilities—but parts. Submarines are extraordinarily complex, requiring components in a lengthy supply chain. It takes years to procure the specific undersea sensors, fire-control systems and other crucial internal parts for each boat.
The U.S. lacks the domestic infrastructure to build conventionally powered boats. But its allies are world leaders in the technology. Japan’s Soryu-class submarine, a Mitsubishi-Kawasaki co-project, has a range of more than 6,000 miles. Japanese yards take about two years to build one of these boats and can start a new one every year. Korea’s KSS-III, a Hanwha-Hyundai product, slightly larger than the Japanese Soryu, can even launch ballistic missiles, broadening its mission profile. Korean yards can produce one ship in three years and typically start a hull every year. Both ships are on the export market.
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