Well IMHO the USN can't figure out what the heck it wants. By the time they invest resources into one naval philosophy, that philosophy has already been rendered obsolete, so its unwilling to put too many eggs in one basket. There are also too many potential technologies and concepts, which challenge old design paradiagms, that they want to try out which is stalling a long-term investment.
Or maybe the USN knows what it needs, but its so different than the previous philosophy of "supersubs" that its been hard to bring itself to invest in smaller and cheaper designs. Old habits are hard to break so the Virginia was sortof a half way point between the "super subs" that the USN was used too and the "small cheap and easy" subs that analyst were recommending. Maybe now that a little more time has past the Navy is ready to change its design philosophies even more.
Oh well, guess we will have to wait until China's Navy progresses to start challenging parts of the Pacific and Indian Ocean, before we see the next "Super Sub"
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