The strongest version of this narrative is that the U.S. faces a strategic gap in its submarine-based nuclear deterrence, with the Columbia-class program falling short of the Ohio class’s capacity. Adm. Correll’s testimony frames the issue as a mathematical shortfall—280 tubes versus 192—while Sen. Tuberville and Chairman Wicker amplify the urgency, portraying submarine production as a race against time. The argument gains credibility by tying deterrence to tangible metrics (launch tubes) and in...