The USS Pasadena moored at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in July 2023. The Pasadena has remained inactive since 2025, but has not been formally decommissioned and scrapped yet, and continues to have a full crew and ongoing maintenance despite its inability to conduct military activities. (Naval Station Guantanamo Bay)

Not Only Can’t America Build Submarines, It Can’t Retire Them, Either

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Submarine decommissioning is a lengthy and laborious process, and existing scrapyards are years behind—meaning that existing submarines must remain on the register, with full crews, until their time comes.

With competition for the Indo-Pacific heating up, the US Navy wants more attack submarines. Yet a new Government Accountability Office report suggests that the Navy is losing enormous amounts of submarine availability—simply because its shipyards can’t process the existing fleet fast enough.

According to the report, maintenance delays have already cost the attack-submarine force more than 41 cumulative years of operational availability. This bottleneck extends to retirement, with submarines that are........

© The National Interest