The first reason the US Navy needs many more Virginia-class submarines

What you need to know: The US Navy’s Virginia-class submarines are among its most advanced, but their numbers are insufficient to meet current and future requirements, particularly in potential conflicts with near-equal adversaries such as China.

-America’s shipyards are overwhelmed, unable to keep up with production needs, and experiencing significant delays. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding and modernizing its submarine fleet, potentially surpassing the US in both quantity and technological advancement.

-The AUKUS agreement, aimed at strengthening allied submarine capabilities, has not yet alleviated these challenges due to similar shipyard problems in the UK and Australia. Without substantial improvements, the US risks a strategic disadvantage in submarine warfare.

America’s Submarine Shortage: Why the US Navy Needs More Virginia-class Submarines

The Virginia class submarines are one of the most advanced submarines of the United States Navy. They have a number of capabilities that make them a real threat to America’s rivals everywhere. Too bad there aren’t enough of them. Moreover, it is unlikely that there will ever be enough.

America’s shipyard crisis

That’s because America’s shipyards I’m a disaster.

They can’t keep up with the current peacetime demand being forced upon them. And God help us if a war with a near-equal competitor such as China ever erupted, then US Defense Industrial the base as a whole, especially the shipyards, would not be able to cope with the increased demand from war operations.

In other words, the Navy’s current crop of submarines and warships will likely continue to be the only force available, even if these platforms are likely to be lost in intense near-peer combat.

A crisis in Taiwan will break the current US submarine force

Given the possibility of a conflict with China over, say, control of Taiwan, the US Navy’s current submarine force is insufficient to stop the threat posed by our friends in the region. We are told that the US submarine force is the most advanced in the world. Maybe it is, for now.

But as Mao Zedong is rumored once said, “Quantity has a quality of its own.”

China can mass produce its submarine fleet at a significantly faster rate than US shipyards. Now, they are combining mass production capability with increasingly complex subsea platforms. Today, Chinese scientists are experiencing with a variety of propulsion systems for their state-of-the-art submarines that allow their submarines to travel much faster than American submarines.

Indeed, China has invested significantly tracking and detection capabilities identify and eliminate the finite number of US submarines before they can pose a real threat to Chinese strategic assets.

Thus, in any conflict between a near-equal rival like China, the United States will have trouble resisting the conflict. The Chinese will be able to replace their systems lost in combat probably at a faster rate than the Americans, which means that over time, the US force will be worn out.

AUKUS doesn’t help (yet)

America entered Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement largely to boost regional capabilities by helping the British supply the Royal Australian Navy with nuclear-powered submarines, which would increase the number of friendly submarines in the region. Although there has been some progress in the development of AUKUS, both in the UK and Australia fight with similar problems of stifling bureaucracy and underperforming shipyards.

So, should the Indo-Pacific conflict erupt soon, the Americans will be at a numerical disadvantage in the all-important area of ​​submarine warfare. In addition, the US submarine force is spread around the world, while China’s is concentrated in the conflict zone. To move the bulk of US submarines into the region once a war breaks out, the Americans will have to use increasingly contested waterways that could be sabotaged by Chinese agents.

Other strategic considerations

Even the Panama Canal is not immune to conveniently timed problems. Not only does a Chinese state entity manage the canal area, but Chinese allies such as Venezuela or Iran are moving assets more and more in the region that could damage the channel. Furthermore, there are currently water level problems in the Canal Zone that could impede the movement of US submarines from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

All these are limiting factors for American submarines.

The Virginia-class submarines were designed as a more affordable alternative to the Navy’s sophisticated Seawolf-class submarines. Conformable TO military.com, there are ten submarines currently serving in this class. Six of these submarines are assigned to the US East Coast, meaning they are primarily deployed in the Atlantic. Four oddballs are assigned to the Indo-Pacific region along the US west coast and in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, seven additional units were under construction, some as early as 2009, with two more under contract. The Pentagon was informed by those sclerotic US Navy shipyards that there will be severe production delays with those submarines still under construction.

Here are several limiting factors for this essential component of the US submarine fleet. Especially when you consider that the legendary, albeit ancient, Los Angeles-class attack submarines are being retired at a much faster rate than they can be replaced.

Again, more problems.

Small warning

There will be little warning if the Chinese attack Taiwan. In all likelihood, the Chinese will try initially blockage and then spend weeks, months or perhaps years, depending on the slowness of the US response, before ever attempting a ground invasion. The Americans must do everything in their power to clean up the shipyard mess, increase productivity there, and produce many more submarines to have the kind of strategic resistance that will be needed to combat China’s growing navy.

The Virginia-class submarines, with their arsenal of torpedoes, missiles and maneuverability, are a key component of America’s submarine force.

We miss them. China knows this.

Therefore, China can defeat the US Navy in the long run in a direct regional war.

About the author

Brandon J. Weicherta national security of national interest analystis a former congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor to The Washington Times, Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is out October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images on the page are from Shutterstock or Creative Commons.

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