WhoWee said:
I'd like to hear from the experts - is it reasonable and/or feasible (economically) to turn any of these assets into powerplants?
The output is too low for commercial energy production (they are designed to be frugal and produce their juice over sustained periods without refueling), and the designs themselves are protected by law. The reactors have to be dismantled and sensitive technology destroyed as part of submarine recycling. Assuming it was possible, the cost of converting them would be greater than the fifty-year value of their power output, give or take, and by the time they are retired, they are at the limits of their rated operational lifespan.
Ok, maintain them. Why retire them?
Because the cost of the mandatory 20-year maintenance is greater than the cost of retirement. These 11 ships were retired in the mid- to late-1990's, when Naval budgets were at their minima. They couldn't afford to keep them operational.
I want to know what mission load is required to defend this country, not every country, and what part of it must be done by subs, and not, say, great listening airborne platforms like the P3 Orion or the other 2-300 surface ships. Also why not throw in some cheap diesels especially for short range patrols?
You tell me. Since the end of the Cold War, the low-lieing fruit has been picked; what remains is the bare minimum necessary to meet the ongoing strategic requirements of the United States, and maintain a war-fighting capability should the worst happen. Clearly, we overdid it with the cuts in the '90s. We can afford to lose some personnel as the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are drawn down, but very little in terms of capability (number of task forces and brigades, and big ticket items like aircraft and boats).
Gates is already looking for the personnel savings - mostly by eliminating supporting contract roles, but they will probably have to get to the enlisted men eventually - but we are talking small potatoes in the grand scheme. Defense is the wrong tree, frankly. There's this pervasive myth that the DOD is lavishly overfunded and easily picked clean, but that's frankly BS. They have gotten very good at justifying standing force levels since the draw-down from Cold War footing; the extraneous stuff is long gone. To cut more, you have to make hard choices about what specific capabilities you are willing to give up.
The $700B defense budget is mostly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, in any case. Entitlements, entitlements, entitlements.