Joe Courtney, former chairman and now a ranking member of the influential Congressional Subcommittee, says bipartisan support for Orcas was “very extraordinary.”
According to U.S. House of Representatives, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is wrong in his prediction that Australia will not get its own auricle. Joe Courtney (D-CT).
“Given what’s going on in the (Australia) security environment, it makes sense to go the route they chose, as they have to spend a lot of money (to get the proper amount of reach) of the submarine, regardless of what choice they make,” Courtney said.
First submarine under Orcas in Australia
Until 2032, the second in 2035 and the third in 2038 will not be delivered.
US Navy officers have security guards on the Virginia-class high-speed attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN-783) after the ship docked at HMAS Sterling in Rockingham, near Perth, Australia on February 26, 2025. Colin Murty-Pool/Getty Images
Courtney is a ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on the Seapower and Projection Force. From 2018 to 2022 he served as chairman of the body.
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He also co-chairs the bipartisan Parliamentary Shipbuilding Caucus with the Rob Whitman (R-VA) and has been co-chairs of Australia’s Friends Caucus since 2017.
His district includes the manufacturing facilities of electric vessels, which have been a major builder of US Navy submarines for over 100 years.
“…Marco Rubio is now Secretary of State, and he voted for all Orcas clauses (when the Senate) and publicly states that he is a strong supporter of Orcas.
“National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was with me on the Armed Services Committee. He was not a sea force, but he attended the Preparation Committee and speeded up in terms of issues of Navy preparation. He also publicly expressed strong support for hearing.
He downplayed the risk that Turnbull would use the submarines assigned to Australia based on his criticism.
File photo: Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, located in Berlin, Germany on April 23, 2018. Reuters/Fabriziovensch/File Photo
“The Navy’s shipbuilding plan for the Navy’s submarine deployment is over 60 Virginia-class attack submarines. Today, adding to the fleet of Los Angeles and Virginia-class submarines still in operation today, including three Sea Wolf Attack Submarines, will turn about 51 years old.
The new council also “strengthened the game” with both a funding contract for the construction of submarines and direct investments in industrial bases, which Courtney said were “very unique.”
“So far, it’s over the US’s $6 billion investment in submarine industrial bases. The ongoing resolutions and supplements that just passed at the end of December have increased that volume. The forecast is that there will probably be a new amount of $3-4 billion in the ’26 budget, which will be coming later this year.”
The project’s work was also spreading to more manufacturers, which should help reduce potential bottlenecks.
“Austal Shipyards in Alabama are currently manufacturing steel to remove the load on its work. (And) the Philadelphia Shipyards will become a strategic supply chain company to employ some of the pieces that are not highly classified, but are clearly important in terms of gaining (production).
“So I’m very bullish at the fact that I’m definitely going to overcome the slowdown in Covid.”
Virginia-class attack submarine Minnesota (SSN 783) is under construction at the Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipyard in 2012. Joshua Karsten/US Navy
However, Courtney revealed in an interview that his optimism was based on a non-complete scale of sub-delivery.
“We’re basically using metrics that are different from actual submarine delivery… Instead, in my opinion, when we’re talking about building a ship, it’s based on tonnage, a legitimate indicator,” he explained. “We will build two classes of submarines at the same time. Columbian submarines have a sub (i.e. 7,800 tonnes) of approximately 21,000 tonnes (and Virginia) sub (i.e.) of 7,800 tonnes.
“The blocks of Virginia submarines will be a little heavier. They will be about 10,000 tons with the extensions of the payload module. So, between Covid and the fact that Columbia is online, in my opinion, they spend a lot of time with people in the yard.
Questioning what that means for Australia, lawmakers once again mentioned bipartisan support for the project.
“There is a desire to maintain two levels of production and funding for each year (Viligina submarines), and there is a consensus on the fact that they want to provide full funding for Colombia.
“(However) the current Navy forecast is that by 2028, we should really return to (production) 2.0 Virginia (annual submarine) with submarine industrial base investment.”
