NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Senate Armed Services Committee members will roll up their sleeves and begin working this week on next year's defense bill.
The question is, how many Virginia Class submarines will get authorized?
The answer will have a big impact on the largest industrial employer in Hampton Roads: Newport News Shipbuilding.
The Navy has bought Virginia-class attack submarines at a rate of two subs per year since 2011.
But the department's Fiscal Year 2025 (FY'25) budget proposal included a request for just one Virginia-class sub, much to the disappointment of House Armed Services Committee Member Rep. Rob Wittman (R- Virginia 1st District).
"It's unacceptable to say we're going to go down to building one submarine a year. I argue let's authorize and appropriate two submarines and let's get to work and build them," he said.
The House Armed Services Committee did vote in May for two Virginia-class submarines.
But the House Appropriations Committee last week voted to allocate $3.6 billion for just one Virginia Class sub.
The full House has yet to vote.
Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee this week begins its markup of the FY '25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) in May signed a letter with 13 other Senators saying they're "deeply concerned" about one one-sub buy, saying it sends "a terrible message."
Kaine predicts that his panel will vote to fund one sub and add money to support the industrial base--which he says will help the United States get to a 2.3 subs per year production cadence by 2030.
"My gut tells me that what we're going to do in the NDAA is probably stick with one, but then put in additional resources to enable us to start to do some advance procurement on the second one," he said.
Virginia-class submarines are built under a teaming arrangement between HII Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat in Connecticut.
Twenty-three of them have been commissioned so far, with plans to build a total of 66.