We have 42 active Los Angles class hunter-killer submarines

[Egalitarian Thug]

83. All true. What is not usually discussed, and which applies across all of the services, is the fact

that they are still the best on earth. The individual boats are reaching or past their service life, but it does not follow that we must expend the huge resources to build the next bigger, better toy. A new Los Angeles class boat can be built for less than half the of the $2B+ cost of the Virginia class boat, and they do the job.

We are not at war. And while it is not a good idea to do nothing, it is absolutely sufficient to replace and modernize the existing platforms at least until there is a credible threat. China is not going to go to war with us because they have no motivation to do so. They are already beating us through economics. There is no credible threat in the world today including from our allies.

Accommodating female officers and crew? That just might be the furthest stretch I've read on this topic and not even worth addressing except to say that there are many solutions without building a whole new boat.