The attack submarines are made for long engagements in U.S. Navy waters and are meant to neutralize enemy submarines and surface combatants, scout ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operations Forces, and conduct information, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, as well as fleet battle group support operations and bottom and moored mine warfare. With the world’s undersea threat landscape ever-evolving, so too is the technology and capability these formidable vessels wield.
The Backbone: Los Angeles-Class Submarines
The U.S. submarine force structure has been based on the Los Angeles class (SSN 688) for the last twenty years. Currently, there are about forty submarines of this class, and each of them comes with twelve Vertical Launch System (VLS) for Tomahawk cruise missiles. Apart from the threats, the main source for staying ahead of the U.S. in the infantry and naval service has come in the shape of this Los Angeles class submarine.
The Quiet Giants: Seawolf-Class Submarines
The Seawolf-class submarines were first commissioned in 1997 and include the USS Seawolf (SSN 21), USS Connecticut (SSN 22), and USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23). The ships are all known for being extremely quiet, and fast, and have excellent sensor technology. Lacking VLS, they nevertheless offer 8 torpedo tubes and can carry up to 50 weapons. The USS Jimmy Carter, with its 100-foot hull extension dealing space, is most noted for having increased warfighting capacities and being classified for research and development.
The Next Generation: Virginia-Class Submarines
The Virginia-class (SSN 774) is the next generation of attack submarines, and there are twenty-one in commission. They will replace the Los Angeles-class submarines that are becoming quite aged. In addition to these, other innovations of the Virginia class include a reconfigurable torpedo room, supporting SOF operations, photonics masts instead of traditional periscopes, and modular construction for rapid system upgrades. These other innovations developed for Block III and further into Block V include a Large Aperture Bow sonar array and the Virginia Payload Module, with the capacity to add VPM large diameter tubes four at a time.
Future: SSN(X) – The Ultimate Apex Predator
The Navy is developing a future attack submarine under the SSN(X) designation, which Rear Admiral Bill Houston calls the “ultimate apex predator.” It borrowed the payload and speed from a Seawolf-class submarine, applied the acoustic/sensor advances made on a Virginia-class submarine, and looked forward to buying operational availability and service life from the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. SSN(X) will be faster, carry a larger payload, and surely have superiority in being acoustically stealth—a pretty good hunter-killer platform.
The SSN(X) will likely mark a return to a focus on classic hunter-killer attributes, emphasizing speed, stealth, and tube-launched torpedo weaponry. According to a widely circulating view, the myriad possibilities of employing artificial intelligence are also seen as eliminators of human involvement in almost all sectors that involve mostly routine operations.
Affording the SSN(X) program will be no small feat, especially as the Navy invests in the Columbia class and works to posture its current fleet. The Navy’s draft Fiscal Year 2022 budget request includes $98 million in research and development funding for SSN(X), with procurement of two boats per year expected to begin in Fiscal Year 2034. Each planned SSN(X) is projected to cost between $5.8 and $6.2 billion, a large increase over the nearly $2.7 billion of a Virginia-class attack submarine.
This is the background against which SSN(X) is important in retaining the qualitative edge for the U.S. Navy in its warfare under the water. Rear Admiral Houston emphasized making SSN(X) primed for major combat operations capable of denying the adversaries the ability in their regions called bastion regions.
The continuing evolution from the Los Angeles class to the future SSN(X) personifies the Navy’s commitment to the maintenance of technological superiority and operational excellence in the undersea battlespace. As global threats continue to evolve, these silent sentinels will continue to be in the vanguard of naval warfare, ensuring the security and dominance of the United States beneath the waves.