Submarine Missions Unmet
Fact Sheet -- 12 March 2008
Fact Sheet -- 12 March 2008
According to the U.S. Navy, last year U.S. attack submarines forward deployed were able to meet only 54% of mission taskings requested by the U.S. Combatant Commanders (COCOM), our military leaders overseas. In 2007 U.S. attack submarines met 99% of "Critical" mission requirements; but there were sufficient attack submarines to meet just 11% of missions coded as "High Priority" -- the level of urgency immediately below "Critical." (84% of the total requests in 2007 were classified as Critical and High Priority.) There is no indication of a similar mission shortfall in the surface fleet.
Key Points:
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Unfunded Requirements. The numbers indicate that the U.S. Submarine Force is increasingly unable to meet national security requirements due to declining force levels and/or rising threats.
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High Priority Missions Unmet. Although the Submarine Force can still meet nearly all of the COCOMs' "Critical" missions, most "High Priority" missions are unmet.
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Accelerating Virginia Class Production Can Help. In the long-term, accelerating the production of Virginia Class submarines would help mitigate the gap between mission requirements and missions met.
|
Year |
Combatant Commanders' Requested Attack Submarine | ||
|
Critical |
High Priority |
Total | |
|
2004 |
100% |
25% |
66% |
|
2005 |
100 |
50 |
61 |
|
2006 |
99 |
34 |
54 |
|
2007 |
99 |
11 |
54 |
Source: U.S. Navy