Delivery of US navy’s new ICBM submarine delayed by more than a year

The US navy is pushing back the estimated first delivery of its next-generation nuclear-armed submarine by 12-16 months, the most significant schedule slip to date for the service’s top acquisition programme.

The navy disclosed the delays in the Columbia-class submarine programme in a new shipbuilding review that was announced on Tuesday.

The first of the Columbia class’s 12 subs, all of which will carry intercontinental ballistic missiles, was contractually set to be delivered in October 2027. It’s another setback for the programme, which is seen as a crucial replacement to the ageing Ohio-class ICBM fleet.

Last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the cost of the programme would reach about US$120 billion, or 20 per cent over initial estimates. The submarines are being built by General Dynamics Corp. and HII.

More broadly, the projected submarine delay when combined with new cost growth projections for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ground-based Sentinel ICBM and a first flight delay is likely to raise more complaints among arms control advocates that the US multibillion-dollar nuclear modernisation effort is floundering in the face of major Chinese improvements.

Even before the delay, the programme had little margin for error to meet the contractual schedule deadline set by the navy. That would see the Columbia to deploy in 2031.