Forum-Sicherheitspolitik

Der Bau einer neuen Klasse von atomar angetriebenen, strategischen Raketen-U-Schiffen für die US-Marine hat, relativ unbemerkt, im Oktober 2020 begonnen, als die erste Einheit (SSBN-826 Columbia) auf Kiel gelegt wurde. Diese neue Klasse von U-Schiffen (zunächst SSBN(X) bzw. nun Columbia-Klasse genannt) wird die im Einsatz stehenden strategischen U-Schiffe der bekannten Ohio-Klasse ergänzen und irgendwann ganz ablösen. Die rund 20.000 Tonnen großen Einheiten werden vsl. ab ca. 2027 der US-Marine zugehen. Bislang ist der Bau von 12 Schiffen geplant.

Zitat:Huntington Ingalls contracted in support of construction on first two Columbia-class submarine

Huntington Ingalls Industries, America’s largest military shipbuilding company has announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has been awarded a contract modification from General Dynamics Electric Boat in support of construction on the first two Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines.

As noted by the company, the contract modification, valued at approximately $2.2 billion, provides continued design support efforts, as well as the construction and delivery of six module sections for each of the first two Columbia-class submarines.

As part of the contract, Newport News will deliver the completed modules to Electric Boat for final assembly. The contracted module delivery dates are scheduled to start in November 2022 with the last module delivery taking place by January 2028. [...] The Columbia class will replace the fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The lead ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2027.

https://defence-blog.com/news/huntington...arine.html

Schneemann.

Stolzer Preis...

Zitat:Report to Congress on Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. The Navy has identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy procured the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021 and wants to procure the second boat in the class in FY2024. The Navy’s proposed FY2021 budget requested the procurement of the lead boat, as well as $4,014.7 million (i.e., about $4.0 billion) in procurement and advance procurement (AP) funding and $397.3 million in research and development funding for the program. The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) proposed FY2021 budget requested an additional $64.7 million in DOE development funding for the program. Congress, as part of its action on the Navy’s FY2021 budget, authorized the procurement of the lead boat and provided $4,122.2 million in procurement and AP funding and $397.3 million in research and development funding for the program. [...]

The Navy’s FY2021 budget submission estimates the procurement cost of the first Columbia-class boat at $14,393.4 million (i.e., about $14.4 billion) in then-year dollars, including $6,007.8 million (i.e., about $6.0 billion) in costs for plans, meaning (essentially) the detail design/nonrecurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the Columbia class. [...] The Navy’s FY2021 budget submission estimates the total procurement cost of a 12-ship class at $109.8 billion in then-year dollars.

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/19/report-...ne-program

Schneemann.

Als Ergänzung zu meinem Post am 02.06.: Und schon gibt es die erste Kostensteigerung - obwohl erst eine Einheit im Bau ist (oder vllt. gerade deswegen, weil man nun einen besseren Überblick hat und eine Neueinschätzung vornehmen konnte).

Zitat:Cost Estimates for Lead Boat in Columbia-class Program Grow by $637M

The Navy’s cost estimate for the lead ship in its new ballistic-missile submarine program grew by $637 million over the last year, according to the service’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget submission.

The estimated price for the future USS Columbia (SSBN-826), the lead ship in the class of 12 ballistic-missile submarines, is now $15.03 billion, compared to a $14.39 billion estimate in the FY 2021 submission, according to budget justification documents released late last week. [...] General Dynamics Electric Boat, the prime contractor for the Columbia-class boats, declined to comment when asked for an explanation behind the cost increase. After this story was published, a Navy spokesperson told USNI News in a statement that the cost of the first boat grew due to a new estimate.

“The budget increase is a result of the Navy funding the program to the most recent independent cost estimate,” said Lt. Cmdr. Stephanie Turo. “Ordnance costs were anticipated early in the project based on a best estimation at that time. The decrease was caused by vendor prices coming in lower than estimated.”

https://news.usni.org/2021/06/07/cost-es...ow-by-637m

Schneemann.

Zitat:Report to Congress on Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Since 2013, the Navy has consistently identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy procured the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021 and wants to procure the second boat in the class in FY2024. [...]

The Navy’s FY2022 budget submission estimates the procurement cost of the first Columbia-class boat at $15,030.5 million (i.e., about $15.0 billion) in then-year dollars, including $6,557.6 million (i.e., about $6.60 billion) in costs for plans, meaning (essentially) the detail design/nonrecurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the Columbia class. (It is a long-standing Navy budgetary practice to incorporate the DD/NRE costs for a new class of ship into the total procurement cost of the first ship in the class.) Excluding costs for plans, the estimated hands-on construction cost of the first ship is $8,473.0 million (i.e., about $8.5 billion). The Navy’s FY2021 budget submission estimated the total procurement cost of a 12-ship class at $109.8 billion in then-year dollars.

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/15/report-...-program-3

Schneemann.

Zitat:CNO Warns Columbia-class Sub Would Miss Delivery Under a Year-Long Continuing Resolution

A year-long continuing resolution would force the Navy to miss deadlines on delivering the first Columbia class ballistic missile submarine, the service’s top officer told House appropriators Wednesday.

In prepared testimony on Columbia, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday told the panel that “since the shipbuilding account is uniquely line-item appropriated, the CR provides insufficient funding for SSBN-826, our first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and number one modernization priority. … If the CR is extended over the full year, we expect construction delays to the Columbia-class program and costs to grow, increasing delivery risk to this critical system and threatening our ability to meet U.S. Strategic Command requirements. This is a program with zero margin for delays.” [...]

“In a flat account, we have to do something” and that means scaling back recruiting and delaying permanent change of station moves for starters to cover the pay raise, said Mike McCord, the Pentagon comptroller. He said holding defense spending to last year’s level would be $8 billion below what other congressional committees have approved for the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

“We’ve been slowly boiling this pig” of using continuing resolutions over approving a new budget for 20 years. McCord said the impact of a year-long continuing resolution, which had never happened before, would translate to $24 billion not spent on recruiting and retention, needed research and development and new programs, training exercises and eroded away by inflation in continuing operations and programs.

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/12/cno-war...resolution

Schneemann

Zitat:First Columbia Ballistic Missile Submarine Begins to Take Shape

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – The backbone of the Navy’s next nuclear ballistic missile submarine is starting to take shape in a series of understated white buildings on the edge of Narragansett Bay. Building-sized sections of the future USS Columbia (SSBN-826) have been under construction at the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility at Quonset Point, under cover from the Rhode Island winter and largely unseen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [...] While carrying eight fewer nuclear missiles than its predecessor, Columbia will be longer, heavier and feature a complex electric drive propulsion system and associated technology to keep the class relevant for the 50-year lifespan of the boomer.

“Columbia is a 20,000-ton submarine. It’s the largest, most complex submarine that’s ever been built,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday told USNI News in an interview en route to the construction facility.

The $110 billion Columbia program and the VPM addition are refining techniques EB developed for the construction of the early Virginia-class submarines to maximize the efficiency of assembling the complex hulls under the pressure of a timeline with razor-thin margins.

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/08/first-c...take-shape

Schneemann

Zitat:General Atomics wins contract for the propulsor of future Navy's Columbia class submarine

According to a press release published by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) on May 10, 2022, the firm announced that it has been awarded a sole-source delivery task order from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) to provide structural hardware for the propulsor of the Navy’s new Columbia-class submarine. [...]

The hardware is scheduled for delivery in early 2023. Engineering is underway at GA-EMS’ San Diego and Tupelo, MS facilities, with all manufacturing occurring in Tupelo. [...] The first submarine officially began construction on 1 October 2020 and is scheduled to enter service in 2031.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph...arine.html

Schneemann

Zitat:Keel-Laying for Columbia SSBN Set for June 4

WASHINGTON — The keel-laying ceremony for the first new-generation nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) will take place June 4.

The keel-laying date for the future USS Columbia (SSBN 826) was mentioned by Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, during a May 18 hearing of the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. The ceremonies will be held at the General Dynamics Electric Boat Shipyard at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

The date was announced to employees of Electric Boat the same morning. The missile compartment and other components are built at Quonset Point. Final assembly of the submarine will take place at the Electric Boat facility in Groton, Connecticut. HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, builds 22% of the submarine, including the bow and stern.

https://seapowermagazine.org/keel-laying...or-june-4/

Schneemann

Kiellegung des ersten Columbia-Klasse-U-Schiffes auf der Werft von General Dynamics' Electric Boat in Quonset Point. Entsprechend gegenwärtiger Planungen soll SSBN-826 im Jahr 2027 in Dienst genommen und ab 2031 auf Patrouille gehen.

Zitat:Keel Laid For Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine District of Columbia

After inspecting the engraved plate with her welded initials, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) declared the keel laid for the future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826).

The ceremony marks the ceremonial construction start of the first in a new class of ballistic missile submarine that’s expected to commission in 2027. [...] Preliminary design work on the 520-foot long, 20,000-ton ballistic missile submarine started in 2007. The class will replace the Ohio class ballistic missile submarines as the nation’s number one strategic deterrent starting with District of Columbia’s first patrol in 2031. The Columba-class will carry “70 percent of America’s deployed nuclear arsenal,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said at the ceremony at Electric Boat’s Quonset Point facility in Rhode Island. He added the ballistic missile submarines are “the smartest investment we can make” to secure the American public. [...]

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/04/keel-la...f-columbia

Schneemann

Zitat:Curtiss-Wright To Support Critical U.S. Navy Platforms

Curtiss-Wright Corporation announced on 03 August that it has been awarded contracts valued in excess of $220 million to provide propulsion valves, pumps, and advanced instrumentation and control systems for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, Columbia-class submarine and Ford-class aircraft carrier programs. [...]

The awards were received from Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI) and General Dynamics Electric Boat to support ship construction, spare parts and submarine back-fit procurements. [...] Curtiss-Wright is performing this work at its facilities in New York and Pennsylvania within the Company’s Defense Electronics and Naval & Power Segments. Engineering and manufacturing have commenced and will continue through 2026.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/202...platforms/

Schneemann

Zitat:Leonardo DRS reaches new milestone for the first US Columbia class submarine

According to a PR published by Leonardo DRS on August 30, 2022, the firm announced that it has successfully completed factory acceptance testing and shipment of the first production unit of the main propulsion motor for the U.S. Navy’s new Columbia class submarine. The motor was recently shipped to General Dynamics Electric Boat (EB) for integration into the lead ship of the class. [...]

DRS was chosen by EB and the U.S. Navy to design and manufacture the major Columbia Electric Drive Propulsion system components including the main propulsion electric motor.

All prototype components of this system successfully completed full power endurance and other testing at the Navy’s land-based test facility in 2020, where operational testing continues. In addition to the main propulsion motor, other lead ship components are being manufactured and are also preparing to ship to Electric Boat. The Columbia class program goal is to design and build a class of 12 new ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the U.S. Navy’s current force of Ohio class SSBNs.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph...arine.html

Schneemann

Zitat:Prototyping keeps Columbia submarine programme on track, USN officials say

Land-based prototyping has helped keep the Columbia-class strategic missile submarine programme on track for development and delivery, according to US Navy (USN) submarine officials.

“Nearly everything on the ship” has been tried or tested either through prototyping or installation on the Virginia-class attack submarines, Rear Admiral Douglas Perry, US Navy (USN) director of Undersea Warfare, said on 1 November during a media briefing at the Naval Submarine League 2022 Annual Symposium. “The pumps and motors – we've been installing them on the Virginia class for a decade,” Rear Adm Perry said. “The electric drive – it's been running [as a prototype system]. Everything that is going on Columbia , most of that, has already been in operations.”

Rear Admiral Scott Pappano, programme executive officer of USN Strategic Submarines, agreed. “That's been very much part of the strategy,” he said during the symposium briefing.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/indus...icials-say

Schneemann

Zitat:GAO: Delivery of First Columbia-Class SSBN Could Be Late

The U.S Navy's ambition to deliver the first Columbia class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in record time could fall short, thanks in part to a lack of schedule risk analysis, according to a new report. As the Navy implements the largest and most complex submarine project in its history, the U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO) is now warning that lack of a schedule risk analysis could impede the success of the project, whose costs have already gone up by an addition $4 billion from the $128 billion estimated in 2019.

Failure to deliver the submarines on time could have far-reaching consequences for the country’s defense, considering that the Columbia-class submarines are expected to replace the 14 current Ohio class nuclear-powered submarines that are nearing the end of their service lives, with retirement planned to begin in 2027.

To prevent a gap, the lead Columbia class submarine needs to be ready for its first patrol before October 2030. The Navy has set a target of April 2027 to deliver first-in-class USS Columbia. The target is a record time considering it took 88 months to deliver the first Ohio class nuclear-powered submarine, but the Navy plans for Columbia to be delivered 10 months faster. [...]

The Columbia-class project is already encountering headwinds. After more than a year of full-scale construction on the lead Columbia submarine, the shipbuilders are facing delays because of challenges with design, materials and quality.

Two U.S. shipbuilders, General Dynamics Electric Boat (Electric Boat) and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding (Newport News), were awarded the contracts for the design and construction of the submarines. Electric Boat is the prime contractor for design and construction with Newport News serving as its major subcontractor. [...] GAO reckons the delivery timeline for USS Columbia might not be achieved because Electric Boat has not conducted a schedule risk analysis, a critical tool for understanding program risks and managing risks that could impact the schedule. Electric Boat is already deploying extensive measures to tackle emerging challenges. Since the Columbia-class subs are essential for strategic deterrence, they are giving it priority status over most national-defense-related programs, including the Virginia class program.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/g...ld-be-late

Schneemann

Zitat:Report to Congress on Columbia-class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program [...]

The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Since 2013, the Navy has consistently identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy procured the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021. The Navy’s proposed FY2024 budget requests the procurement of the second boat in the class. [...]

The third, fourth, and fifth boats in the class, which are programmed for procurement in FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028, have estimated procurement costs of about $8.2 billion or $8.3 billion each. The Navy’s FY2024 budget submission estimates the total procurement cost of a 12-ship class at $112.7 billion in then-year dollars, or an average of $9,387.6 million each in then-year dollars. [...]

In addition to the above requested funds, on October 20, 2023, the Administration submitted a request for FY2024 emergency supplemental funding for national security priorities that includes, among other things, a total of $3,393.2 million in funding for the submarine industrial base to support construction of new submarines and maintenance of existing submarines.

https://news.usni.org/2023/12/29/report-...program-13

Das erste Boot, die District of Columbia ist seit Juni 2022 im Bau, das zweite Boot (Wisconsin) wurde zumindest bestellt...

Schneemann

Mögliche Verzögerungen beim Bau der District of Columbia, dem ersten Boot der Klasse:

Zitat:First Columbia Nuclear Missile Sub At Risk of 1-Year Delay Due to Supplier Problems

THE PENTAGON – The lead ship in the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program is facing a potential one-year delay due to supplier issues, putting the Navy’s number one acquisition program at risk and creating a potential gap in the U.S. nuclear strategic deterrent, five people familiar with the delay told USNI News. The future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826) could deliver in Fiscal Year 2028 instead of its planned FY 2027 delivery, the sources confirmed to USNI News. [...]

Under the teaming arrangement for the Columbia program, lead contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat assembles the central barrel of the submarine’s hull at its yard in Groton, Conn., and its manufacturing facility in Quonset Point, R.I. Those modules built in New England are married to bow and stern sections that are constructed at Newport News and sent by barge up to the Columbia assembly hall in Connecticut. HII has been late in delivering the sections, delaying the timeline for construction. [...]

Asked about the initial report during the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget briefing on Monday, Under Secretary Erik Raven pointed to Secretary Carlos Del Toro’s 45-day shipbuilding review. “We’re seeing stress across the industrial base and again I think putting this in the context of the Secretary’s 45-day review will add additional depth and context to the challenges that we’re seeing across the shipbuilding portfolio and we expect to have that done fairly soon,” Raven told USNI News.

https://news.usni.org/2024/03/11/first-c...r-problems

Schneemann