Navy's next-generation submarine program faces alarming delays to 2040

In the United States, the Navy's next-generation submarine program has encountered significant delays, pushing the production of the SSN(X) submarine to 2040, well beyond its original target of 2031. As of FY 2026, the Navy requested $623 million to advance the program. The submarine is designed to enhance stealth capabilities, intelligence gathering, and improve connectivity with unmanned systems, yet with escalating costs projected between $6.7 billion and $8 billion per vessel, the SSN(X) is more expensive than the Virginia-class submarines it is meant to replace. Compounding the issues, Virginia-class submarines, which have been in service since 1998 and are typically procured at a rate of two per year, have seen production slow to just 1.2-1.4 submarines annually. This has resulted in a backlog of vessels that have been funded but not constructed, with the Navy requesting only one Virginia-class submarine for FY 2025 due to production constraints. As challenges mount, only two shipyards in the U.S.—Electric Boat and Newport News—are capable of building these nuclear-powered submarines, leading to concerns about the industrial base's capacity to keep up with future demands. The Navy aims to increase its fleet from 296 to 381 ships, necessitating substantial industrial expansion to achieve these objectives. Brett A. Seidle, the acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, emphasized during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing the urgent need for timely ship deliveries within budget constraints, noting rising costs and delays across multiple programs. Despite nearly doubling its shipbuilding budget over the past two decades, the Navy has repeatedly failed to meet its ship-count goals, with the Government Accountability Office reporting that the shipbuilding programs remain in a