The Navy needs to produce at least one additional Virginia-class submarine per year to maintain undersea advantage in the Indo-Pacific and globally, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, acting chief of naval operations, told lawmakers. “We are only at 1.2 [Virginia-class submarines]. We need to get up to about 2.2 for AUKUS,” Franchetti said, referring to the security agreement between the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom for keeping peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Under AUKUS, the U.S. will transfer to Australia three...
