[Ggskbpbz]

One simple suggestion to cut some defense dollars I think is viable and does not sacrifice any core mission:

Replace half our submarine fleet with modern diesel electric submarines.

The US got away from diesels in the eighties, our last two being decommissioned in the mid nineties. The idea was to standardize the force to all nuclear and by doing so keep the most advanced and capable boats during the drawdown of the same period. There is some merit to this, as by the nineties there weren't any modern diesels to keep around anyway but this also meant we kept the most expensive units and we continue to build to this expensive high end capability.

What I would suggest is that the US purchase and Americanize the German Type 212 submarine. It is just as advanced in all its capabilities it has as a US Virginia-class SSN and all the capabilities it lacks we can add to it for the most part.

The only real hit in capability it will take is sustainability. Sustainability is nice, but can it really be claimed that with our current overseas naval bases and all our allies around the world we really need a sub that can go around the world three times without stopping? And when sustainability beyond the 212s range becomes a problem I am only suggesting making half the force diesels, that still leaves a few dozen SSNs to do that work. We could station 212s at Guam and China and NK would still be in normal deployment range, station them in Bahrain (we already have ships there) and all of 5th Fleet is in deployment range and station a few in Europe for our Med needs if these are required. They are non nuclear so they have more of a range of options as far as operating from allied facilities as well as not needing the extensive facilities required to station a nuclear vessel somewhere. On top of that, forward deployed 212s would not have to waste time and money transiting from the the US proper all the time which is what most of them do now. Additionally, there is a whole lot of savings in not having to provide nuclear trained crews for these subs, which requires at least a year of expensive schools (to include the mainenance of three reactors just for training) between joining and actually hitting the fleet.

There are currently 55 SSNs in the US fleet. A Virginia-class sub costs 1.8 billion, a 212 costs 500 million. Assuming a full production run of both outfitting our Navy with 60 submarines and 30 of each thats a savings of 39 billion over the entire production window over building just Viriginia-class boats for procurement savings alone.

Thats just rough back or the napkin figures, there would be costs for the contracting of the design and modification to US needs and I don't expect the 60 submarine requirement to last but its a place to start.