U.S. Navy wants more submarines but cannot maintain the number they have

David Axe for The National Interest:

The U.S. Navy wants to add 10 new attack submarines to its fleet, but according to a scathing government report, it can’t maintain the 56 attack submarines it has as of late 2018.

“The Navy has been unable to begin or complete the vast majority of its attack submarine maintenance periods on time resulting in significant maintenance delays and operating and support cost expenditures,” the Government Accountability Office concluded in its November 2018 report.

If they max out their maintenance capacity with 56 submarines, they can buy all the boats they want and still not get more operational capabilities. They will just have more submarines in the waiting line at the shipyard.