The U.S. Navy’s Columbia-Class Submarine Dilemma Is No Joke

The Columbia-Class: Working Behind and Billions of {Dollars} Over Finances 

When U.S. Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth was sworn in, he rapidly outlined the Pentagon’s defense-acquisition priorities. One was to modernize the army’s nuclear weapons packages. That replace ought to embrace constructing and commissioning the Columbia-class ballistic-missile nuclear submarines (SSBNs) that can exchange the older Ohio-class “boomers.” The Columbia-class ought to be protected from cancellation, though its funds could possibly be trimmed.

Excessive Price for Launching Nuclear Weapons Anytime, Anyplace

The Columbia-class will likely be costly. The primary sub will value round $15.2 billion. The Navy, which has recognized the Columbia-class as a prime precedence, desires 12 of the brand new boats to exchange its 14 Ohio-class SSBNs.

The second Columbia-class sub will set the Navy again $9.3 billion, which is significantly much less, however nonetheless quite a bit. (The primary boat is costlier as a result of it contains preliminary design and first-look engineering necessities.) The Navy then desires to construct 10 extra Columbia-class SSBNs, one annually from Fiscal 12 months (FY) 2026 to FY 2035.

A Billion Right here, A Billion There…

For the 2 boats now in development, the Navy has requested $3.3 billion in FY 2025. This could make the bean counters on the Division of Authorities Effectivity take discover. It isn’t clear whether or not Hegseth’s precedence packages will likely be in DOGE’s crosshairs, however maybe the Columbia-class ought to be. Having new boomers is a bonus, and the American nuclear triad may use enhancements, however the billions add up rapidly.

Columbia and Virginia-class Are Being Made on the Similar Time

Not solely are the Columbia-class boats costly, however there have additionally been delays to this system, as a result of the Navy is procuring Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines on the similar time. The Virginia-class nuclear-powered cruise-missile fast-attack submarines are one other precedence for Hegseth.

These will likely be instrumental within the Navy’s technique to enhance its land-attack capabilities with cruise missiles.

What About Different Shipbuilding Wants?

The Columbia-class and Virginia-class will problem the U.S. shipbuilding trade. To make issues extra acute, President Donald Trump has recognized army shipbuilding as an space of wanted enchancment for the U.S. defense-industrial base.

Trump rightly thinks that the Chinese language have solid forward with higher shipbuilding numbers. The necessity for brand spanking new U.S. submarines is a part of that equation.

“Navy officers have acknowledged persistently since September 2013 that the Columbia-class program is the Navy’s prime precedence program, and that this implies, amongst different issues, that from the Navy’s perspective, the Columbia-class program will likely be funded, even when that comes on the expense of funding for different Navy packages, and that in a state of affairs of commercial base constraints, the Columbia-class program may have first name on assets to reduce the possibilities of schedule delays in constructing the boats,” in response to the Congressional Analysis Service.

How Lengthy Will the Columbia-class Be a Precedence?

That sounds severe and ought to be taken at face worth, however the Navy should settle for the truth of lowered cash and assets. The Hegseth-led Pentagon has requested for $50 billion in funds cuts annually for the subsequent 5 years. Are we nonetheless protected to imagine that the Columbia-class will keep away from extra scrutiny and keep away from the cuts?

Finances-trimming measures may additionally have an effect on the Gerald R. Ford-class plane service program that prices greater than $13 billion {dollars} per ship.

US Navy Assault Submarine. Picture Credit score: Artistic Commons.

The Columbia-class would be the greatest submarine ever constructed by the Navy. The boats will run silent at 20 knots and displace round 21,000 lengthy tons. They are going to be extremely stealthy over their deliberate 40 years of service. The reactor core will likely be so quiet that it’ll produce much less “acoustic power than a 20-watt gentle bulb.” 

Submarines carry 70 p.c of the nuclear warheads within the U.S. arsenal. “Every [Columbia-class] will likely be put in with 16 missile tubes for launching 16 Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” in response to Naval Expertise. “Powered by three solid-fuel rocket motors, the three-stage missile can carry as much as 14 a number of independently targetable re-entry autos with W88 or W76 thermonuclear warheads to a distance of 12,000 km.”

So, regardless of the massive acquisition prices, it seems that the Navy remains to be able to hit the accelerator on the Columbia-class program. This can be a excessive precedence for the Navy, and a key a part of the Hegseth-era Pentagon, and it appears to be like to be protected from the cost-cutters at DOGE. There have been some delays, however total, nothing too alarming about this system, apart from its excessive value and the chance that it may take funds from different ship procurement packages. 

The U.S. nuclear triad will likely be reworked within the coming years. The B-21 Raider strategic stealth bomber is on time and underneath funds. The Sentinel ICBM will assist higher ship nuclear weapons too, though that program has endured schedule slips and ballooning value estimates.

The Columbia-class will likely be a welcome acquisition. It’ll want extra Congressional oversight, since its weight within the acquisition technique of the Pentagon is so excessive. It ought to work out nice—it is going to simply want the watchdogs to look at progress periodically. 

In regards to the Writer: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the creator of Don’t Flip Your Again On the World: a Conservative International Coverage and People, Machines, and Information: Future Developments in Warfare plus two different books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech agency that predicted world occasions utilizing synthetic intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and suggested the senator on protection and overseas coverage points. He has taught at American College, George Washington College, and George Mason College. Brent is a former U.S. Military Infantry officer. He will be adopted on X @BMEastwood.