Author Topic: Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction  (Read 729 times)

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Offline rangerrebew

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Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction
Pentagon has awarded General Dynamics $1.3 billion to buy long lead time materials for the program.

August 7, 2024


By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News


Congress still hasn’t decided whether to slow down the pace of building Virginia-class attack submarines, but the Pentagon has awarded General Dynamics $1.3 billion to buy long lead time materials for the program.

According to a Pentagon statement, the contract modification is “in furtherance of the Navy’s commitment to the health and stability of the industrial base.” The work will be performed in more than a dozen states. 

General Dynamics Electric is the prime contractor for the Virginia subs. It’s building them in an arrangement with HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding.

“This contract modification sends a crucial demand signal, enabling our suppliers to invest in the capacity and materials needed to increase production volume,” said Electric Boat President Kevin Graney. “Consistent funding for the supply base is essential to achieve the high-rate production the Navy requires of the entire submarine enterprise.”

https://warriormaven.com/uncategorized/congress-deliberates-the-pace-of-attack-submarine-construction
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Offline rangerrebew

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Re: Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2024, 10:11:44 am »
Since a snail could easily outrun congress in a contest of speed, why are they sitting in judgement? :shrug:
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth.  George Washington - Farewell Address

Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2024, 11:46:34 am »
Quote
“Consistent funding for the supply base is essential to achieve the high-rate production the Navy requires of the entire submarine enterprise.”

Yep. After a career in the boom/bust oil industry, If you want to keep capable folks who know what they are doing, it helps to have some stability. You will retain some out of love for what they are doing, but many just can't handle the old school 'waiting until you can pay cash so you don't lose it if the boom dies tomorrow' lifestyle.
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

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Offline DefiantMassRINO

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Re: Congress Deliberates the Pace of Attack Submarine Construction
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2024, 12:18:59 pm »
Just-in-Time supply chain management theory presumes that inputs are fungible and outputs can be on-demand.

Capital intensive industries are risky because past and present investment is not a guarantee of a future profit.

If the DoD wants a stable domestic supply chain, they'll need to implement procurement practices to normalize national security vendor business cycles.  The Agriculture Department has programs to normalize the corn-hog cycle to provide price stability for food production.

Publicly traded stock companies are discourage by Wall Street from keeping too much cash on-hand.  If a company has "too much" cash, activist shareholders will push to have that cash returned to investors, preferrably in the form of tax-efficient stock buy-backs.

My father worked in the Defense sector during the 1960's - late 1980's.  As an employee of a defense contractor, he was subject to employment / unemployment cycles as Defense programs were funded or cancelled.  This was not stable enough to provide for a young family.  After a layoff / furlough in the early 1980's, he left the defense contractor to work as a consultant at smaller defense subcontractors, communications subcontractors, and medical subcontractors.

Skilled positions require significant upfront time and upfront money to be expended to acquire and develop the requisite skills.  If a career field requires taking significant upfront risk, by an employer or by a worker, there needs to be a return on investment that makes that risk worth taking.

If a skill field has a high barrier to entry and a low or negative return on investment, employees and employers will risk their capital (time, money, opportunity) to pursue more profitable endeavors.  Chances are, that skill field will be lost in America and/or move overseas.  That's what happened.  Skills and industries needed to provide for the national security supply chain have been allowed to atrophy for decades.  America has given away many of its competitive advantages to competitors and enemies so a swarm of Globalist locusts could increase their wealth by driving down the standard of living in Developed Nations.

You've reaped what your policies have sown, you DC dimwits.  I hope the cheap(er) sneakers and iPhones are worth it.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2024, 12:19:49 pm by DefiantMassRINO »
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