No wiggle room in schedule for Columbia-class submarine.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

Work is underway to replace the sea-based leg of the United States' nuclear triad, but officials have said there is no further room for schedule slippage as the decommissioning of legacy submarines looms.

The program, known as the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, is an effort to replace aging Ohio-class subs. The boats--which make up the most survivable leg of the triad, alongside land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers--are slated to begin decommissioning in the late 2020s. That means the new subs must be ready to start patrols in fiscal year 2031, said Vice Adm. Terry J. Benedict, director of the Navy's strategic systems programs.

"Recapitalizing our ballistic missile submarines is a significant investment and something that happens every other generation, making it critically important that we do it right," he said during a May hearing before the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on strategic forces.

However, schedule slippages have threatened to create a capability gap.

"Today the current program has basically one Columbia-class entering service as one Ohio-replacement platform departs service," he said. "We have already taken a two-year slip in the Columbia-class [schedule] which pushed basically line-on-line with the Ohio's retirement."

While the Navy strongly believes it can execute the program on time, any further schedule slippage would be a major issue, he noted.

Congress needs to be mindful of that as it crafts its budgets, said Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., during the hearing. "We just don't have any room for not hitting the mark each year," he said.

Already, the Navy has extended the Ohio-class' service life from 30 to 42 years, Benedict added.

In the president's fiscal year 2018 budget, the Navy requested $843 million for the second year of advanced procurement for the Columbia class, according to service documents. The Navy also budgeted more than $1 billion toward research-and-development efforts for the boat. That will "focus on the propulsion plant, common missile compartment development and platform development technologies like the propulsor, strategic weapons system and maneuvering/ship control," the Navy said.

According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the lead submarine will cost an estimated $12.2 billion in 2016 dollars, and subsequent boats will cost an average of $5.9 billion. Including research-and-development costs, it is expected that the total...