Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter has given Navy officials the green light to begin technology development on the service’s new submarine program, which will eventually replace the Ohio-class boats currently in the fleet.
Carter, along with members of the Defense Acquisition Board, granted the SSBN(X) program Milestone A clearance, according to a Feb. 3 Naval Sea Systems statement. The board’s formal approval was officially granted on Jan. 10, according to the statement.
By gaining Milestone A authority, Navy officials can now begin the integral technology development phase for the program and put it on track for initial development and procurement, slated to begin in 2019.
“The Navy is committed to ensuring that an affordable replacement ballistic missile submarine is designed, built, and delivered on time with the right capabilities to sustain the most survivable leg of our triad for many decades to come,” said Program Executive Officer for Submarines Rear Adm. Dave Johnson in the NAVSEA statement.
Along with clearing the actual program, DAB members also approved the sea service’s program of record to replace the 14-boat Ohio-class fleet with 12 SSBN(X) systems once those legacy submarines reach the end of their service lives.
The Defense Acquisition Board endorsed replacing the current 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines as they reach the end of their service life with 12 SSBN(X) submarines, according to the statement. The SSBN(X) program, when paired with the Navy’s new Virginia-class submarines, will form the submarine ballistic missile capability of the U.S. nuclear triad. The acquisition decision memorandum on the SSNB(X), issued by Carter, states the board “validates the program’s technology development strategy and allows entry into the technology development phase during which warfighting requirements will be refined to meet operational and affordability goals,” according to the NAVSEA statement.
Despite the support voiced by the department for the program, issues over escalating costs for the submarine’s development have caused concern on Capitol Hill. Last September, Carter personally assured lawmakers that DoD was taking steps to pare down the program’s price tag (Defense Daily, Sept. 30, 2010).
At a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Carter said Navy and Pentagon efforts to trim development costs on SSBN(X) were well underway.
“It’s more a question of ‘how’ than ‘whether,'” he said at the time. “On the other hand, if you don’t get the ‘how’ right you’re going to get the ‘whether’ wrong….So, we don’t want to get ourselves in a situation with SSBN(X) where we design a submarine that we know we don’t be able to afford.”