That Sinking Feeling

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There are, of course, some missions subs can best perform: hunting other subs, for example, or surveillance, or launching surprise missile and commando attacks. The problem is that many of their other supposed missions, including Tomahawk barrages and naval blockades, can be handled more efficiently by surface ships.

In a world in which force projection may be as much about visibility as about lethal power, the subs' stealth can be seen as a liability. Submarine advocates praise this "presence through uncertainty," likening the boats to monsters in the dark, terrifying even if they're not really there. But such stealthiness poses a tactical quandary. It requires absolute radio silence, whereas in today's U.S. military all key forces are bound together by waves of always-flowing electronic data. A U.S. submarine plugged into such "network-centric" warfare would forfeit some of its vital silence, potentially betraying its position to the enemy.

The murky mission for today's sub fleet has affected morale on board the nation's fleet of 65 attack subs, which is slated to be reduced to 50 in 2003. Young officers who dreamed of chasing Soviet subs around the globe can't figure out what they are supposed to do. "A concise submarine-force mission statement would help junior officers understand why they are at sea," a Navy lieutenant writes in Proceedings. "Without a mission statement, there is no sense of direction for the submarine force." And the Navy is having difficulty manning (no women serve aboard U.S. submarines) even its shrinking fleet. Since July the Navy has been offering unprecedented $45,000 re-enlistment bonuses to nuclear-trained sailors to entice their continued underwater service.

Given the dearth of threats, some experts see no need for a 50-sub fleet. Ivan Eland of the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, argues that a force of 25 is more than adequate. If the Navy kept its current submarines steaming for their planned 30-year lives and bought no new ones, the U.S. sub fleet would still not fall to 25 until 2017. That's not how they see things at the Pentagon, however. Its Defense Science Board recently urged the Navy to begin planning the next-next-generation attack submarine--one that will be better and bigger than the U.S.S. Virginia. America's attack-submarine force is "a unique 'crown jewel' for the United States," said the board. Unmentioned was the fact that the real crown jewels, those of the British monarchy, have been retired to a museum.