The White House has requested more than $3.4 billion to accelerate the construction and maintenance of attack submarines to meet military requirements.
The statement said the funding will boost the US Submarine Industrial Base’s modernization efforts, upscaling its shipyards and other infrastructure.
The majority of the funding will address the Virginia-class submarine program’s production delays, with 61 percent of the emergency supplemental funding slated for faster production of the nuclear-powered submarines.
Apart from the $2.1 billion “Shipbuilding and Conversion” fund, $558 million will be alloted to “Operations and Maintenance,” improvements for the navy’s four public shipyards that maintain the country’s nuclear fleet.
The rest of the funding calls for research and development, construction and procurement, and boosts to the shipbuilding facilities’ workforce.
AUKUS Commitments
The requested funding will also be used to support the country’s commitments under AUKUS, the US’ trilateral partnership with the UK and Australia, which seeks deeper integration between the countries’ security and defense units.
The commitment will support Australia in its acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.
Similarly, Australia has also committed to investing in US industry to boost the production and delivery of Virginia-class submarines.