U.S. Navy Inactivates USS Boise Submarine After Costly Delays

The U.S. Navy announced on Friday that it has inactivated the attack submarine USS Boise, a 34-year-old Los Angeles-class vessel, after years of delays and escalating costs rendered its overhaul uneconomical. The decision halts repair work at Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, where the submarine had been pierside since 2015, and redirects resources to higher-priority programs.

Commissioned in 1992, the USS Boise last deployed in January 2015 and lost its dive certification in 2017, sidelining it from operations. Repairs were initially scheduled for fiscal year 2016 but faced repeated postponements due to shipyard backlogs, workforce shortages, and capacity constraints at public facilities. The submarine was shuffled between yards before a contract worth approximately $1.2 billion was awarded in 2024 to begin the overhaul, projected for completion in 2029. By the time of the cancellation, only about 22 percent of the work was finished, with roughly $800 million already spent. Officials estimated an additional $1.9 billion would be needed to complete the project, pushing the total cost near $3 billion for a submarine with only about 20 percent...