The nation must start a debate now on whether to maintain all three legs of the nuclear deterrent triad because the Navy will have to spend “several billion dollars over the next five years” preparing to build a replacement for the Ohio class strategic nuclear submarines, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Sept. 30. That debate cannot wait until the Navy must start building the first of the new missile-carrying subs, Mabus told reporters in Washington, D.C. Mabus repeated his warning that if the Navy is forced to bear the total cost of building the new sea-based leg of the triad “it will break something.” Buying one of the new “boomers,” optimistically estimated to cost more than $7 billion each, would consume half the normal shipbuilding budget for at least 12 years, leaving little to buy all the other ships the Navy needs, he said. “The ‘boomers’ are the most survivable leg of the triad,” Mabus said. “This is a national mission. We’ve got to have this debate now.” The Air Force provides the other two legs of the nuclear deterrent force—the land-based Minuteman III ICMBs and the nuclear-capable bombers.
Navy CCA Program’s Shape Coming into Focus
Oct. 17, 2025
In announcing its Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract, General Atomics has provided some clues as to where the service is heading with its version of an armed, autonomous fighter escort. It will likely be quite different from the Air Force version.
