R Adm Jon Rucker highlighted the fragility of the US military shipbuilding base, indicating that the production schedule for submarines is significantly behind expectations due to material shortages affecting construction timelines.
Rucker expressed concern over the production goals for submarines, admitting that despite past progress, the outputs are only hovering around 1.1 to 1.2 submarines per year, undershooting the necessary targets.
The admiral confirmed that the US is now unlikely to reach its production goal of 1.5 submarines per year by 2024, creating doubts about fulfilling commitments to Australia's Aukus agreement in time.
While acknowledging the challenges, Rucker stated a potential to meet long-term ambitions by 2028, indicating that producing three submarines could still be feasible if current priorities are managed correctly.
Collection
[
|
...
]