It hasn’t been a good week for British and American submarine programs. Reports have emerged revealing faulty welding in multiple missile tubes destined for the US$122.3 billion Columbia-class program, the Virginia-class program, and the next generation of British nuclear submarines.
The faults were discovered following revelations of discrepancies in manufacturer BWXT’s weld testing equipment.
Prime contractor General Dynamics had already received seven of the 12 tubes in question from BWXT, and has now launched an investigation alongside the US Navy. A spokesman said the issue should not put the Columbia program behind schedule, although the impact on the Virginia-class and Royal Navy’s Dreadnought SSBNs is not yet known.
General Dynamics released a statement saying it hoped to mitigate the consequences of the fault.
“General Dynamics Electric Boat is investigating a weld issue identified by one of its subcontractors on missile tubes delivered to GDEB for use in the US Columbia and UK Dreadnought SSBN programs and payload tubes for the Virginia Class SSN program,” GDEB said.
“GDEB is working closely with the subcontractor and the Navy to mitigate any potential impacts to these programs. As our customers expect the best from us, safety and quality are central to the culture at General Dynamics Electric Boat.”
The delays could have a significant impact. With the Ohio and Trident classes winding down, delivering the Columbia and Dreadnought-class submarines on time is key to maintaining both American and British continuous at-sea deterrence patrols.
The issue is a familiar one for Australia. The first Collins boat had faulty welding in the bow section, which was produced in Sweden (and was the only section made abroad). The repairs significantly delayed the program.
The Australian government has since stated that the problem “told the tale of the quality of Australian production, since [the Swedish-built] section was shown to have an unacceptable number of welding defects which appeared nowhere else in the program.”
As a result, the government moved to ensure that repairs were done to Australian standards, by Australian welders, at an Australian facility, “to assure HMAS Collins' longer term serviceability.”
The Collins weld faults had a number of possible causes, including differences between RAN and Swedish welding standards (full vs partial penetration, respectively) and the use of steel alloys unfamiliar to the Swedish manufacturer.
BWXT is headquartered in Virginia, and so unlike Australia, the US Navy cannot blame the current welding issues on overseas procedures.
The Royal Navy, however, can. Perhaps it should look to Australia’s experience with the Collins as a lesson in quality assurance. Job creation isn’t the only benefit of building locally.