Any schedule delays would risk Navy's 'No. 1 acquisition program'

Any further delay on a roughly $80 billion program to replace aging nuclear submarines will “risk the most survivable leg of the Nation’s nuclear triad,” a Pentagon official said referring to the trio of submarines, ballistic missiles and heavy bombers used to deter war.

Arthur Hopkins, the Pentagon's nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs chief, was on a panel of defense officials testifying before a House Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday about funding for nuclear forces and the urgency tied to replacing the aging Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine from General Dynamics Corp.

“There is no margin left in the schedule,” he said.

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