U.S. Navy audit reveals severe shipyard bottlenecks and dry dock shortages have cost over 15,000 operational days and billions in delays
The United States Navy is grappling with critical infrastructural limitations across its shipbuilding and repair industrial base, severely undermining submarine fleet readiness.
Sea-news.az reports citing RIA Novosti, that an analysis of official U.S. government audit documents reveals that chronic shipyard congestion and a severe shortage of dry docks are forcing nuclear-powered submarines to remain inactive for extended periods.
According to the audit, over the past decade, the U.S. Navy has lost a cumulative total of more than 15,000 operational days due to prolonged maintenance overhauls and idle multi-mission submarines sitting stranded in port. This systemic lag has inflicted an estimated $3.4 billion in excess costs on the federal budget.
The findings highlight that between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, American shipyards and public naval repair facilities managed to complete baseline overhauls on time for only about 11 percent of multi-mission submarines.
Decommissioned vessels nearing the end of their operational lifecycle present an additional logistical bottleneck. Before retired submarines can be fully scrapped, spent nuclear fuel must be defueled from their reactors—a delicate procedure that strictly requires vacant dry dock infrastructure. However, due to widespread dry dock deficits, the safe disposal and recycling of retired submarines are severely backlogged.
Analysts note that these structural capacity constraints within the American maritime industrial sector continue to hinder both the acceleration of new submarine construction programs and the baseline operational readiness of the active fleet.
