Big submarine program faces delays if no budget deal

If Congress doesn’t get its budget act together, Newport News Shipbuilding may have to wait longer to see whether it gets a slice of the Navy’s next big submarine program.

In letters to two U.S. senators last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spelled out the potential impact of a failure by the congressional supercommittee to meet its Nov. 23 deadline, triggering defense cuts of about $1 trillion.

Specifically, Panetta said the Navy may delay replacing the Ohio class of ballistic-missile subs and cutting the number of new subs from 12 to 10, saving about $7 billion. The first purchase is planned for fiscal year 2019.

The Ohio class was built by General Dynamics’ Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., but there is an expectation that Newport News Shipbuilding, part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, will have a role in the replacement program.

Citing reports in the defense trade press, the Congressional Research Service last month listed other possible changes that could pinch the Newport News shipyard.

They include delaying procurement of the new aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy by two years and shifting the schedule from one carrier every five years to one every seven. The Navy may also deactivate the carrier George Washington rather than perform a midlife overhaul and refueling of the ship, according to the service’s report.

The Navy does hope to maintain funding for two-sub-a-year procurement of Virginia-class attack subs, but the rest is enough to worry shipbuilders and anyone else interested in the health of Hampton Roads’ largest employer.