The Navy plans to launch a "scoping study" within the next year that will begin exploring the possibility of establishing a fifth public shipyard for submarine maintenance, according to a top service official. Rear Adm. Jonathan Rucker, program executive officer for attack submarines, said this preliminary study will analyze the capability of existing shipyards to determine whether an additional yard is warranted. “Right now, we're in a stage to say, ‘let's go scope how capable our shipyards could be’,” Rucker...
