With 15 vessels already in service, the Virginia-class will take over the Los Angeles-class’s operation role. nuclear attack submarines and a more cost-effective alternative to the Seawolf-class. The Virginia-class, designed by the Electric Boat Corporation of Connecticut, represents the next generation of U.S. As a result, Congress decided to terminate the program at three boats in 1995. 11 While the original plan was to produce as many as 29 submarines, construction costs proved too high and the end of the Cold War meant that their primary function was no longer applicable. Although it does not possess a vertical launch capability, it can fire Tomahawk missiles through its torpedo tubes. 10 The boat’s stealthy capabilities also make it well suited for the insertion of Special Forces. Originally developed to hunt Soviet SSBNs, this class of attack submarine runs significantly faster and quieter than the Los Angeles-class. Navy also possesses three Seawolf-class vessels, based at Bangor Trident Base in Washington state. The USS San Juan, commissioned in 1988, was the first of the “improved” quieter Los Angeles-class submarines, fitted with an advanced BSY-1 sonar system, and capable of operating under ice. Beginning with the USS Providence in 1977, the vessels were equipped with 12 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk missiles to complement the original Los Angeles-class’s four torpedo tubes. 8 As a result of technical improvements over time, there are three variants of the Los Angeles-class. The Los Angeles-class is considered the backbone of the US submarine fleet with 34 now in commission. The boat was primarily developed for anti-submarine warfare, but is also capable of inserting Special Forces and laying mines. The nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class SSN carries Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs) and MK-48 torpedoes. 6 However, given that normally only eight to ten of the Ohio-class submarines are deployed at one time, and that their launch tubes will be reduced from 24 to 20 in accordance with the requirements of the New START treaty, the actual number of warheads in the field is closer to 720.
Assuming an average of twelve operational submarines with 24 launch tubes each and four warheads per missile, these boats carry roughly 1,152 warheads. Four of these vessels previously carried the Trident C-4 missiles, but have been retrofitted with the longer-range, more accurate D5. 5 Ship Biographies Ohio-classġ4 Ohio-class SSBNs, armed with Trident II D5 SLBMs, form the sea-based leg of the U.S. The second submarine in the class will be delivered for testing in 2031, with the following ten entering the fleet at a rate of one per year from 2033 to 2042, at an average cost of $6.5 billion per boat. The same Congressional report noted that, based on the projected procurement schedule, the first Columbia-class submarine will be delivered by 2028 and become operational by 2031, at a total cost of $8.4 billion (excluding testing costs). Each nuclear-powered Columbia-class submarine will carry up to 16 Trident D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). In June 2018, a Congressional report noted that 12 Columbia-class submarines will replace the 14 Ohio-class vessels currently in service as the new underwater component of the U.S. Navy is phasing out Ohio-class SSBNs in favor of the newly designed Columbia-class. needs 66 attack submarines to keep up with the increasing military demand for their underwater capabilities. Vice Admiral Michael Connor, former commander of US submarines forces from 2012 to 2015, wrote to the House Armed Services Committee in 2018 that he believes the U.S. However, achieving the current goal of 48 Virginia-class submarines will likely depend onto budgetary accommodations from Congress. Navy hopes to add two to three Virginia-class attack submarines annually to its fleet until the year 2043. In its current modernization drive, the U.S.
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