After a decade without achieving progress toward its return to service, the U.S. Navy announced that it will proceed with the deactivation of the nuclear attack submarine USS Boise, which is part of the Los Angeles class and was originally commissioned into service in 1992. With the decision now taken, the U.S. Navy stated that it expects to reallocate resources toward other projects of greater strategic relevance for the future, although this nevertheless reflects the difficulties that the U.S. budget and naval industry are facing in carrying out projects on time and as planned.
Regarding this, Admiral Daryl Caudle, current Chief of Naval Operations, stated: “After a rigorous data-driven analysis, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to deactivate the USS Boise. This strategic measure allows us to reassign the highly skilled U.S. workforce to our most important priorities: delivering new Virginia and Columbia-class submarines and improving the readiness of the current fleet. We have a responsibility to our sailors and to the nation to make these difficult decisions in order to build a more capable and ready Navy.”
According to the official communication from the U.S. Navy, in line with what Admiral Caudle expressed, the funds obtained from this deactivation will be redirected toward the composition of the new submarine fleet with which the force seeks to modernize itself. This, as described, is part of a broader initiative adopted by Washington in order to optimize the use of financial resources and shipyard capacity, focusing on projects that “contribute directly to operational readiness and to our ability to counter future threats.”
Expanding on details, U.S. media outlets have pointed out that the U.S. Navy had already invested more than 800 million dollars in the overhaul and modernization of the USS Boise, which in the future would rise to around USD 3 billion to be completed; the current state of the project shows only 22% progress. Given these significant figures and limited progress, Navy Secretary John Phelan himself stated that the funds allocated to the recently deactivated submarine represented 65% of the cost of a new Virginia-class submarine. He also noted that even if the process were completed, the USS Boise would have only an estimated 20% of the service life of a new vessel, making it more cost-efficient to proceed with deactivation.
It should be recalled at this point that, under this line of thinking, the Los Angeles-class submarine fleet has been considerably reduced compared to its original strength, going from 62 vessels commissioned to only about 23 currently operating; which illustrates the aforementioned issues in terms of funding and industrial capacity to provide long-term sustainment. The issue is not new, as there are previous reports prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that pointed out deficiencies in modernization and maintenance efforts, even in peacetime.
Together with the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Navy has also been attempting to promote different measures to expand the existing industrial base, including proposals that are not limited by domestic U.S. capacity and that take advantage of those of Washington’s partners. This is, as mentioned earlier, part of a broader strategy in which the institution aims to divest from programs that do not progress as planned and which as such would have support from the current executive branch.
Finally, it is useful to mention that although the USS Boise will not be returned to service in the U.S. Navy, the institution has recently completed modernization processes for other Los Angeles-class submarines. As an illustrative example, we can mention the case of USS Cheyenne, which was commissioned in 1996 and can now remain in service until 2040. Another submarine that can be included in this list is USS Toledo, which in April 2025 completed the overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) that certified the modernization work it had undergone.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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