WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2020) The United States is currently building new nuclear submarines at a faster rate than it has done in the past 20 years, but the undersea fleet still lacks the capabilities and potential it had decades ago, Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Adm. Frank Caldwell told the Naval Submarine League's annual symposium.
"The United States is building submarines at a rate not seen in 20 years," Caldwell said on Monday. "Construction [was] speeded up by doing advanced electronics not in the ship but in self-contained modules later fitted into the hull."
Caldwell explained the US Navy and Electric Boat, the prime contractor on all US nuclear submarines had shifted the installation of advanced electronic components from inside the hulls to modules that were completed before being fitted into place in the vessels, a process that had vastly sped up rates of completion.
"We are building more and more components ... on modules long before we slide them into the hull. We refer to this as continuous build, not disrupting the assembly line," he said.
The new process maintained work at a sustainable pace far more quickly, efficiently and for longer periods of time permitting far faster rates of construction, Caldwell added.
