US Navy Attack Submarine Construction Takes 12 Years Due to Workforce and Yard Constraints
The US Navy commissioned two new Virginia-class attack submarines in spring 2026, USS Massachusetts and USS Idaho, each taking roughly 12 years from contract to commissioning. This marks a significant slowdown from the 5-6 year build times of the 2000s. The Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service attribute delays to workforce shortages, quality control issues, supplier bottlenecks, and the added complexity of the Block V payload module. Only two shipyards—Electric Boat and Newport News—can build nuclear submarines, and they are also prioritized for Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines. The yards are delivering about 1.3 submarines per year against a Navy requirement of 2-2.33, with the two-per-year target now pushed to around 2032.
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