On the 2nd of October, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) released an updated solicitation for the detail design and construction (DD&C) of a new class of Submarine Tenders under the AS(X) recapitalization program.
According to the updated announcement, the solicitation will cover the engineering and industrial support, crew familiarization, training equipment,and provisioned item orders of two AS(X) ships.
The updated solicitation points towards timely progress being made on the AS(X) program. In April 2022, NAVSEA awarded Concept Refinement and Preliminary Designs contracts to L3Harris Technologies, General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
The contracts, which were cumulatively worth $18 million, covered a study period of nine months, with options to extend this period by another nine months. The main objective of the studies was to develop ship specifications, cost estimates, construction timelines and other such program details to inform follow-on acquisition efforts.
The contracts were followed by a pre-solicitation announcement released on the 8th of March, 2023. The announcement stated that NAVSEA would conduct a full and open competition for the AS(X) program in the fall of 2023.
About the AS(X)-class ships
Details surrounding the AS(X) have been largely shrouded in secrecy due to the role the ships fill in repairing and rearming nuclear submarines.
However, we know that the AS(X)-class ships are meant to succeed the Navy’s aging Emory S. Land–class submarine tenders. The U.S. Navy currently operates two ships of the class, both of which entered service in 1979. The ships are currently homeported at Naval Base Guam located in Apra Harbor, Guam, where they provide hotel services and intermediate-level repair to five nuclear-powered attack submarines homeported there alongside the ships.
The solicitation announcement states that the AS(X) is being specifically designed to support the Virginia-class, Columbia-class, and future generation submarines in the 21st century. Furthermore, the class will also be capable of supporting Los Angeles-class and Ohio-class submarines until their retirement.
According to the announcement, the new AS(X)-class ships will: conduct steady state and wartime sustained, forward-based tending, resupply, and I-level repair operations on deployed submarines while at anchor or moored at a pier. In steady state, the AS(X) provides pier-side support in a forward deployed submarine homeport, providing sustained repair, supply, weapons handling/rearming, and tending operations for home ported or visiting submarines and ships, and fly-away emergent voyage repair services for other deployed submarines and ships.
The U.S. Navy expects to retire the first ship of the current class of submarine tenders in 2029 and the second ship in 2030. This gives a rough idea of the schedule the AS(X)-class is working with. While this schedule isn’t very tight, any delays incurred at later stages could severely impact the deployment and availability of submarines in the 7th Fleet.
A third ship in the Emory S. Land-class of submarine tenders is already decommissioned: The former USS McKee (AS-41) was struck from the Naval Register on 25 April 2006. The hull is now moored at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia and serves as a floating workshop.
