Mabus: Ohio-Class Submarine Replacement Could ‘Gut’ Navy Shipbuilding Budget

Without extra funding from Congress, the production of 12 new ships to replace the Ohio-class submarines could “gut” the Navy’s shipbuilding budget for more than a decade, Secretary of the Navy Raymond Mabus said Sept. 15.

“It will take half of our normal shipbuilding budget every year for a dozen years to build these … ballistic-missile submarines,” Mabus said during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. “It has the potential to gut the rest of our shipbuilding programs.”

Navy officials have repeatedly called the replacement program a top priority. However, tight budgets are threatening to make the service choose between the replacement subs and other ships.

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