Navy’s next-generation attack submarines are delayed until 2040, cost rises

Navy’s A new report says the next generation of attack submarines will not become a reality for at least 15 years.

The Navy’s SSN(X) is initially scheduled to enter production in 2031. The timeline has slipped – by 2035 to 2040, due to escalation of cost and budget constraints.

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This new course is expected to emphasize stealth, intelligence gathering, larger torpedo payloads, and advanced connectivity to unmanned understop systems.

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The report urges lawmakers to consider whether delays may threaten our undersea dominance and the navy’s ability to perform critical missions.

SSN(X) estimates that each ship will cost about 10,000 tons, and each ship costs between $6.7 billion and $800 million, making it much more expensive than the Virginia-class submarines that are intended to be replaced.

Virginia ships are approximately $4 billion each and have been in service since 1998. The Navy usually purchases two vehicles per year, but actual production slows to 1.2-1.4 ubs per year, resulting in an increasing backlog of funded but unbuilt ships.

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Virginia ships are about $4 billion each and have been in service since 1998. (Colin Murty-Pool/Getty Images)

For fiscal 2025, the Navy only required one Virginia-class submarine due to production restrictions. There are only two American shipyards – Electric Ship and Newport News – able to build nuclear-powered submarines.

Report Legislators are also encouraged to study the impact of delayed production on the industrial base and whether transferring from highly enriched uranium reactors to low-increase uranium may bring cost or safety advantages.

Meanwhile, the Navy aims to increase its fleet from 296 to 381 in the coming decades – but experts warn that major industrial expansion is required to achieve these goals.

“We need more ships delivered on time and on budget, challenging in both areas,” said Brett A. Seidle, acting assistant secretary for Naval Research, Development and Acquisition at Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “Costs are rising faster than inflation, with multiple plans delaying the schedule for one to three years.”

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Experts have been alerting the following submarine production processes. (Ray Narimatsu/U.S. Navy Photos)

Although its shipbuilding budget has nearly doubled over the past two decades, the Navy has never met its ship counting target. The Government Accountability Office noted that the Navy’s shipbuilding program and the yard were in fact in a “long-term clover state.”

Last month, Rep. Rosa Delauro, the top Democratic Congressman of the Appropriations Committee, urged Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to plan to expand shipbuilding capacity.

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“I want your plan. Can we get this in writing and paper? Because we don’t have anything today – Zip, Nada.”

“We have details and we will provide them,” Heggs replied.