The Pentagon plans to delay procurement of the Navy’s next ballistic missile submarine by two years to curtail risks associated with developing the new platform, and to meet overall budget requirements in an era of reduced spending, the Defense Department said.
The timeframe for introducing the next generation submarine will now be pushed back into the early 2030s, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. The Navy had planned on having the first of the new subs by the end of the 2020s, when the Ohio-class (SSBN) vessels are due to begin retirement.
Panetta emphasized that slowing the development of the Ohio-class replacement does not diminish the Pentagon’s commitment to keeping the sea-, land- and air-based delivery systems that make up the “triad” of the strategic nuclear fleet.
“We could achieve better cost control by delaying the next-generation ballistic missile submarine for two years without harming the survivability of our nuclear deterrent,” Panetta said. “We are fully committed to a safe, secure and effective deterrent to achieve national security objectives.”
The Pentagon also plans to postpone construction of an attack submarine, an amphibious assault ship, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV).
Panetta spoke to reporters to provide a glimpse into the Pentagon’s fiscal 2013 budget request, previewing acquisition programs that will be subjected to cuts, cancellations or delays as the Defense Department tries to rein in spending. Overall, the department is seeking a total budget of $525 billion for FY 2013, $6 billion less than was appropriated for the current year that ends Sept. 30.
The Pentagon’s complete spending proposal will be unveiled Feb. 13 when the Obama administration rolls out its federal budget for FY2013. The program changes announced must be approved by Congress.
In assessing spending priorities, the Pentagon plans to reduce from 20 to 18 the number of LCSs that will be ordered in the next five years, and by eight the number of JHSVs. The quantity of Virginia-class (SSN-774) attack subs will be lowered to nine instead of the 10 planned over the next five years.
Construction on one ship in the new America-class (LHA-6) amphibious assault ship will slip by one year as well. Panetta reaffirmed the Pentagon’s intention to maintain a fleet of 11 large-deck aircraft carriers. The second of the Gerald R. Ford-class (CVN-78) carriers is slated to be funded in FY2013.
“The Navy is protecting our highest-priority and most flexible ships, such as the Arleigh-Burke (DDG-51) destroyers and the Littoral Combat Ships,” Panetta said. “It will retire lower-priority cruisers that have not been upgraded with ballistic missile defense capability or that require significant maintenance as well as some combat logistics and fleet support ships.”
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the decision to delay the Ohio-class replacement was largely to stabilize the program and ensure affordability — not to step away from the U.S. nuclear posture, which is under review by the White House.
“This is a managerial decision made partly for budgetary reasons but mostly because that puts the Ohio-class replacement on a more predictable and stable schedule,” Carter said.
The previous schedule was too aggressive, and the initial costs “well in excess of $6 billion” per ship were “unacceptably high,” Carter said. The Navy has since reworked the requirements and design to bring the costs down to the $5-billion range, he said.
The Navy plans to buy 12 of the Ohio-class replacements.
On the Virginia class, Panetta said the Pentagon plans to fund modifications for new versions of the vessel to add more cruise missiles and develop an undersea conventional prompt strike capability. “Modernizing our submarine fleet will also be critical to our efforts to maintain maritime access” in key regions of the world.
It was not clear how the changes to shipbuilding would affect the Navy’s 30-year plan, or its goal of reaching and sustaining a 313-ship fleet from its current level of 285.