{"id":35123,"date":"2018-04-23T22:24:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T22:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/04\/23\/us-navy-gearing-up-for-boost-in-submarine-production\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:08:22","slug":"us-navy-gearing-up-for-boost-in-submarine-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2018\/04\/23\/us-navy-gearing-up-for-boost-in-submarine-production\/","title":{"rendered":"US Navy gearing up for boost in submarine production"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GROTON, Conn. \u2014 The U.S. Navy is working to build three attack submarines<\/a> in some years as opposed to two<\/a>, and wants to keep five of its attack submarines in service longer than expected to address a dip in the number of nuclear-powered attack submarines<\/a> in coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. attack submarine fleet is expected to shrink by 20 percent over the next decade. There are 52 attack submarines today; by 2028, that number is expected to dip to 42. The Navy has said it needs a fleet of 66 attack submarines, but that isn\u2019t expected to happen until 2048 under current plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Navy continues to drive down the construction timeline for the Virginia-class attack submarine program. At the outset, the boats were built in 84 months. Then the Navy reduced the construction timeline to 74 months, and now the goal is to build them in 66 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\t