The plan for the disposal of US submarines has been revised. The US Navy has decided to revise the number of units that will be abandoned in the coming years. In the new thirty-year plan presented to the Congress, the Navy reduces the number of units that will retire from the 2017, taking it from ten to six.
Within the next 5 years the US Navy will lose a dozen class submarines Los Angeles. From the 52 units currently available, the Navy will come to have 41 in the 2029. Only in the 2046 will the US Navy return to having a fleet of 51 submarines. Specifically, the USS Jacksonville will remain in service until 2018, while the USS Bremerton will be discontinued in the 2019. The USS Louisville will retire in the 2020 followed by the USS Providence in the 2021. USS submarines by the end of the year City of Corpus Christi, USS Albuquerque and USS Houston will be dismissed. In the 2017 the USS submarines Dallas and USS Buffalo, will be dismantled, while the USS San Francisco (photo below) will be converted for crew training in Goose Creek, South Carolina. USS submarines Olympia, USS Louisville and USS Helena (opening photo) will be inactivated in the 2020, while the USS Providence and USS San Juan will retire in the 2021. The San Juan will be the first "688" improved to leave the fleet.
The inactivation plan is based on a number of factors such as operational or budgetary needs and, in the case of nuclear-powered vectors, the amount of fuel present in the reactors. In the naval program, included in the Future Years Defense Plan, the Navy continues the goal of a total fleet of 308 units, even if the FSA or Force Structure Assessment it is constantly evolving.
Currently, the US Navy is structured on 276 units. The Navy will return to asking Congress for higher levels of funding, although it has already been reiterated that "the rate of retirement of the units exceeds the economic capacity to replace them".
In Battle Force Inventory it is specified that "within the 2025 the US Navy will reach its maximum peak following the economic resources allocated with a fleet of 313 units. In the 2031 the number will drop to 300 to stabilize at 290 up to the 2046 ".
In Future Years Defense Planfinally, the disposal program is also envisaged.
The United States Navy generally uses three methods, called FMS, SINKEK and classical dismantling. There Foreign Military Sale is the sale to foreign forces: in Future Years Defense Plan this item is zeroed. SINKEK foresees the use of the units as a real target in an exercise. There will be seven units in the 2017 that will be sunk by the Navy. Finally, the scrapped units are 27, including two aircraft carriers: the USS Independence and the USS Kitty Hawk.
(photo: US Navy)
