U.S. cuts key submarine order for 2025 amid shipbuilding jam

Pentagon's 0.9% budget growth pales in comparison to China's 7.2%

A Virginia-class attack submarine is seen under construction at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. (Newport News Shipbuilding photo via U.S. Navy)

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia diplomatic correspondent

March 12, 2024 10:25 JST

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Defense will order just one Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine in fiscal 2025, a drop from the two-per-year pace of recent years.

The decrease, announced Monday, reflects U.S. shipbuilding bottlenecks. The two private shipyards that produce the Virginia class -- General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries -- face mounting backlogs due to limited capacity and personnel shortages.