Navy’s next-generation submarine faces significant delays as U.S. looks to bolster shipbuilding

The Navy’s next-generation attack submarine won’t be hitting the water for at least another decade, possibly creating issues for U.S. undersea dominance in the coming decade.

According to a new report from the Congressional Research Service, the Navy’s new sub, called the SSN (X) in the paper, is not expected to be completed until at least 2040. The report, submitted to Congress on Wednesday, said the Navy chalked up the delays to insufficient funding for the program.

Notably, the Navy’s 2026FY budget requests $622.8 million in research and development funding for the SSN (X) project, but keeps the expected completion date at 2040. The service had initially moved the completion date from 2035 to 2040 in its 2025FY budget request.

“The delay of SSN(X) construction start from the mid-2030s to the early 2040s presents a significant challenge to the submarine design industrial base associated with the extended gap between the Columbia class and SSN(X) design programs, which the Navy will manage,” the Navy said.

Reports differ on the scale of the procurement cost for the SSN (X). The CRS report said the Navy expects it to cost just over $7 billion, while the Congressional Budget Office says it will be closer to $8.7 billion.

According to the Navy, the SSN (X) will be a game-changer for U.S. undersea dominance. As the report relays, the SSN (X) will significantly improve upon the capabilities of the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine, which it is intended to replace.

“SSN(X) will be designed to increase to counter the growing threat posed by adversaries in strategic competition for undersea supremacy. It will provide greater speed, increased horizontal [i.e., torpedo room] payload capacity, improved signatures, flexibility to adapt to future threats, and higher operational availability,” the Navy said.

Still, the delays underscore the difficulties in revolutionizing domestic shipbuilding, which the Trump administration has made one of its central goals. According to the report, only two U.S. shipyards are capable of building nuclear-powered submarines: Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia and General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Division in Connecticut.