Among the upgrades is a new painting process that helps keep marine life away from the hulls of the subs, which are coming out of service faster than they can be replaced, the Associated Press reported.
"They're not very glamorous, but they're huge in terms of payback to the fleet," Navy Captatin Mike Stevens told the AP.
Other updates include water-resistant grease for hatches, a special coating on the metal rods that extend the bow planes to minimize deposits, and redesigned water-lubricated bearings to improve support of the propeller shaft.
Currently, submarines go six years between lengthy and expensive major overhaul periods. The Navy hopes these new updates can eventually extend that time to eight years.
"We want them to spend as much time at sea as possible," Stevens said.
The Navy solicited the help of private and government shipyards in coming up with ways to extend the service life of each sub.
Electric Boat, a sub builder in Groton, Connecticut, presented the Navy with a list of 128 ideas – whittled down from 800 – for how to reduce maintenance needs. Nearly all of the changes have been incorporated into the design of submarines that are in the beginning stages of construction, the AP reported.
The company had to make sure, however, that none of the changes interfered with the submarine's sophisticated capabilities.
"That tenet of maintaining combat capability was first and foremost," said Ken Blomstedt, an Electric Boat manager.
The Navy says its fleet of 53 attack subs is already stretched too thin. Still, the fleet strength is expected to continue to decline, bottoming out at 41 in 2029 before rising again with ramped-up construction, according to the Navy's shipbuilding plan.
