船厂堵塞，南海受损的美潜艇 2026 年才能返回

由于造船厂堵塞，在南海受损的美国潜艇要到 2026 年才能返回

 

托尼·卡帕乔，彭博社

 

2018 年的康涅狄格号。来源：Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

 

2018 年的康涅狄格号。来源：Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images，来源：Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

 

（彭博社）——据美国海军称，康涅狄格号潜艇是 19 个月前在南中国海撞上一座水下山峰的顶级潜艇，最快要到 2026 年初才能恢复服役，这进一步增加了积压的订单 随着美国面对不断壮大的中国舰队，维修大修成为可能。

 

康涅狄格号是三艘先进的海狼号潜艇之一，于 2021 年 10 月 2 日撞上了未知的海山。据海军称，船首和下舵的维修费用估计为 8000 万美元。 按照五角大楼的标准，这是一笔不小的数目，但等待该船返回服役的漫长等待凸显了海军四个造船厂的维护问题。

 

“康涅狄格州的维修传奇凸显了海军缺乏维修激增能力，”政府问责办公室防务准备评估主任戴安娜毛雷尔说。 “这反过来又引发了关于海军在发生冲突时如何进行战损修复的问题。”

 

近年来，GAO 多次记录了阻碍海军潜艇准备就绪的延误。

 

国防官员和立法者认为美国潜艇部队相对于数量更多的中国海军来说是一个关键优势。 但政府问责办公室在 2022 年关于美国对华能力的总结中表示，从 2008 年到 2018 年，海军损失了 10,363 个作战日——相当于超过 28 年——“由于进出造船厂的延误。”

 

GAO 最近的另一项评估发现，从 2014 财年到 2020 财年，海军潜艇在基地维修的时间比预期多 9,563 天。

 

参议院军事委员会的最高共和党人、来自密西西比州的罗杰·威克周三在一条推文中表示，彭博新闻社报道的“我们最强大的潜艇之一”的五年维修时间表“提醒我们需要什么样的巨大投资 建造海洋基础设施。”

 

康涅狄格号由通用动力公司建造，于 1998 年服役。调查发现，造成 11 名船员轻伤的事故是可以避免的。 该船的指挥官、执行官和高级士兵被解除了指挥职务。

 

台湾，海上航线

 

根据海军记录，现在，它是海军 49 艘快速攻击潜艇中的 18 艘——或超过该舰队的三分之一——停止服役，要么在基地维修，要么等待进入该阶段。 快速攻击潜艇发射鱼雷和战斧巡航导弹，这将使它们成为在台湾或南中国海航道上与中国进行潜在战斗的关键船只。

 

阅读更多：美国海军在台湾演习中在南中国海挑战北京

 

传统基金会海战高级研究员布伦特·萨德勒 (Brent Sadler) 说：“公共造船厂产能有限，推迟了这艘独特的特殊任务潜艇尽快恢复服役”，因此它“将在不可接受的五年内退役” 和一位经历过多次潜艇之旅的海军老兵。

 

GAO 的毛雷尔表示，海军可能会将“稀缺的造船厂空间”放在航空母舰和弹道导弹潜艇的首要位置，“这意味着攻击潜艇更有可能闲置时间等待进入可用的干船坞。”

 

康涅狄格号是美国三艘核动力海狼级潜艇中的一艘，是该军种最大的攻击潜艇，旨在与苏联作战。 海军将该级描述为“异常安静、速度快、装备精良，并配备了先进的传感器”。 它有八个鱼雷发射管，鱼雷舱内可容纳多达 50 件武器。

 

国会研究服务处的海军分析员罗纳德·奥鲁克 (Ronald O'Rourke) 表示，延误部分反映了“现代军舰复杂性的产物——因此修复它们损坏所需的工作也很复杂。”

 

康涅狄格号目前停泊在华盛顿州一家海军造船厂的码头边，等待原定于 2 月开始的维修期开始。 海军在一份声明中说，现在预计在干船坞加固改造完成后的下个月开始，干船坞将在那里进行修复以抵抗地震颤动。

 

“潜艇维修延误的一些主要驱动因素是计划、材料可用性和船厂执行，”该服务称。 海军的“潜艇保障领导层正在执行多项举措，以解决维护延误的其他驱动因素。” 它说。

 

US Submarine Damaged in South China Sea Won’t Return Until 2026 as Shipyards Are Clogged

 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/us-submarine-damaged-in-south-china-sea-won-t-return-until-2026-as-shipyards-are-clogged-1.1932917

 

Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News

 

The USS Connecticut in 2018. Source: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

The USS Connecticut in 2018. Source: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images , Source: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

 

(Bloomberg) -- The USS Connecticut, a premier submarine that struck an underwater mountain in the South China Sea 19 months ago, won’t be back in service until early 2026 at the soonest, according to the US Navy, adding to a backlog of maintenance overhauls as the US faces a growing Chinese fleet.

 

The Connecticut, one of three advanced Seawolf submarines, hit the uncharted seamount on Oct. 2, 2021. The repairs to the bow and lower rudder will cost an estimated $80 million, according to the Navy. That’s a modest sum by Pentagon standards, but the long wait for the vessel’s return to service highlights problems with maintenance at the Navy’s four shipyards.

 

“The Connecticut’s repair saga underscores the Navy’s lack of repair surge capacity,” said Diana Maurer, a director of the Government Accountability Office’s defense readiness evaluations. “That in turn raises questions about how the Navy would execute battle damage repairs in the event of conflict.”

 

Delays hobbling the readiness of Navy submarines have been documented repeatedly in recent years by the GAO.

 

Defense officials and lawmakers consider the US submarine force a key advantage over a numerically larger Chinese navy. But the GAO said in a 2022 summary about US capabilities against China that the Navy lost 10,363 operational days from 2008 through 2018 — the equivalent of more than 28 years — “as a result of delays in getting into and out of the shipyards.” 

 

Another recent GAO assessment found that from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal 2020, Navy submarines had spent 9,563 more days in depot maintenance than expected.

 

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Republican, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said in a tweet Wednesday that the five-year repair timetable reported by Bloomberg News for “one of our most formidable submarines” is “a reminder of the kinds of monumental investments we need to make in maritime infrastructure.”

 

The Connecticut, built by General Dynamics Corp., was commissioned for service in 1998. An investigation found its accident, which caused minor injuries to 11 sailors, was preventable. The vessel’s commander, executive officer and senior enlisted officer were relieved of command. 

 

Taiwan, Sea Lanes

 

Now, it’s among 18 of the Navy’s 49 fast-attack subs — or more than one-third of that fleet — that are out of service, either in depot maintenance or awaiting to enter that phase, according to Navy records. Fast-attack subs fire torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would make them crucial vessels in a potential fight against China over Taiwan or South China Sea lanes. 

 

Read more: US Navy Challenges Beijing in South China Sea Amid Taiwan Drills

 

“Limited public shipyard capacity has delayed a sooner return-to-service of this unique, special-missions submarine” so it “will be out of service an unacceptable five years,” said Brent Sadler, the Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow for naval warfare and a Navy veteran with numerous submarine tours. 

 

Maurer of the GAO said the Navy may be giving top priority “for scarce shipyard space” to aircraft carriers and ballistic-missile submarines, “which means attack subs are more likely to rack up idle time waiting to get into an available dry dock.”

 

The Connecticut is one on the US’s three nuclear-powered Seawolf-class vessels, the service’s largest attack subs, which were designed to fight the Soviet Union. The Navy describes the class as “exceptionally quiet, fast, well-armed, and equipped with advanced sensors.” It has eight torpedo tubes and can hold as many as 50 weapons in its torpedo room. 

 

Ronald O’Rourke, a naval analyst with the Congressional Research Service, said the delay reflects in part “a product of the complexity of modern warships — and thus the complexity of the work needed to repair damage to them.”

 

The Connecticut is currently dockside at a naval shipyard in Washington state awaiting the start of a maintenance period that was to begin in February. It’s now expected to begin next month after the completion of improvements to harden the dry dock where it will be repaired against earthquake tremors, the Navy said in a statement.

 

“Some of the primary drivers of submarine maintenance delays are planning, material availability, and shipyard execution,” according to the service. The Navy’s “submarine sustainment leadership is executing multiple initiatives to address other drivers of maintenance delays.” it said.