It will take at least 5 years for the US to repair a submarine that sank in the East Sea.

The USS Connecticut submarine, damaged after hitting a seamount in the South China Sea in 2021, cannot be operational before 2026 due to overloaded repair facilities.

The US Navy admitted on June 15 that the restoration of the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine could only be completed by early 2026 at the earliest, while the cost of repairing the bow and rudder of this warship could cost about 80 million USD.

"The Connecticut's repair process shows that the US Navy cannot meet the surge in repair needs in a short time. This raises questions about the ability to recover warships damaged in combat when conflict breaks out," commented Diana Maurer, director of readiness assessment at the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Reports published by the GAO in recent years have warned that the combat readiness of the US submarine fleet is constantly affected by slow maintenance. Eighteen of the 49 US nuclear attack submarines are currently in port for repair, while the total maintenance time in the period 2014-2020 exceeded the schedule by 9,563 days.

USS Connecticut with its bow shattered as it leaves San Diego port in December 2021. Photo: San Diego Webcam — USS Connecticut with its bow shattered as it leaves San Diego port in December 2021. Photo: *San Diego Webcam*

"During 2008-2018, US Navy submarines lost 10,363 days of duty, or 28 years, due to delays in factory repairs," the 2022 GAO report said.

The USS Connecticut is one of three Seawolf-class attack submarines, the world's most expensive, costing an estimated $8.5 billion each. The submarine collided with an uncharted seamount while on a mission in the South China Sea in early October 2021, injuring 11 sailors and forcing the submarine to travel surfaced for a week to return to Guam.

The warship was in Guam for nearly two months before embarking on a "nightmare journey" of about 10,000 km to its home port in Washington state, US. Images from that time showed the ship's bow bare without the temporary steel cover after the incident, exposing the compartment containing the sonar system.

The US Navy has four shipyards, all of which have been unable to keep up with the maintenance demands of their forces, leading to years of delays. The incident with the USS Connecticut will add to the difficulties of this effort.

US Navy leaders warned in November 2021 that repairing the USS Connecticut at government-owned shipyards would lead to chaos and disruption of all work, as these facilities are overloaded with repairs to nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and aircraft carriers.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report last year saying that naval shipyards could be decades behind on maintenance. “We project that the Navy will experience delays over the next 30 years, as work demands exceed shipyard capacity over the next 25-30 years,” the report said.

Vu Anh (According to Bloomberg )

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