![]() In place of the Seawolf class, the Virginia-class attack submarine is an advanced stealth, multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep-ocean antisubmarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations. The author’s unprecedented access onboard a Seawolf-class SSN-the USS Connecticut (SSN-22)-is a first for the Navy and provides exclusive coverage found only in this book. With only three in the class, the supersecret USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) is virtually off limits to any and all photography. Sea trials include various tests of the Seawolf propulsion systems and the first underway submergence of the submarine. With the end of the Cold War, the Seawolf-class SSNs were limited to the three that were under construction at the time, and the program was terminated. From its debut in 1997, the nuclear-powered Seawolf (SSN-21) represented the lead ship of the deadliest submarine ever to be constructed for the USN during the Cold War. Two have been completed and 5 more are being built.Successors to the US Navy’s Los Angeles–class fast-attack submarines (presented in volume 1), the Seawolf- and Virginia-class SSNs are presented here from their initial design and construction, through testing and trials, to current operations. The new Russian Yasen class are 390 feet long and 13,800 tons. The Virginia class has only four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes. They were heavier at 12,158 tons submerged. The USSR collapsed in 1991 and only three Seawolf submarines were built for a total cost of $7.3 billion.Īt 353 feet, Seawolf subs were shorter than their predecessors but were twenty percent wider (forty feet wide). Seawolf programĪ twelve submarine Seawolf program was estimated to cost $33 billion during the 1990s. GAO reviewed the Navys Seawolf (SSN-21) Class Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine construction program, focusing on. Getting to 355 ships would require extending Arleigh Burke destroyers to 45 years instead of 30 years. The Navy plans to buy 301 new ships between 20. $28.9 billion is 80 percent more than the average annual funding the Navy has received for the past 30 years. At the height of the Cold War, the US Navy used a historic round-the-world operation to show off its new nuclear force. The sub-hunting SSN(X) program is 40% of the difference between the Navy and CBO projected shipbuilding budget needs. The CBO believes a $28.9 billion-per-year is a more realistic estimate. The US Navy claims it needs an annual shipbuilding budget of $21 billion through 2048 to create a 355-ship fleet. The 2019 shipbuilding plan includes a proposal to purchase five of these post-Columbia-class submarines. Drone Mothership submarineĪ new large-diameter mothership submarine to carry large drone submarines could be ordered in 2036 after the Columbia-class winds down. The Navy’s shipbuilding plan had estimated Virginia sized SSN(X) production will run about $3.1 billion per sub. New Seawolf sized submarines will cost about $5.5 billion per sub. They will be about 9100 tons and will be more like the Seawolf-class. The sub-hunting SSN(X) will be larger than Virginia subs. During the war on terrorism, the US had Virginia submarines launching cruise missiles against land targets in Iraq and Afghanistan. ![]() They will be similar to the Seawolf class submarine.ĭuring the cold war with the USSR, the US Navy focused on submarine hunting. ![]() The next-generation attack submarine will be faster, stealthier and have more torpedoes than the Virginia class. The US Navy’s next SSN(X) fast attack submarine will focus on hunting Chinese and Russian submarines. Designed to address the threat of Soviet ballistic missile submarines, and to replace the aging Los Angeles-class of attack submarines, the Seawolf-class of nuclear-powered fast attack.
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