Tweet
A peek into what the US Navy has in mind for the future.
Navy Times....
Navy Times....
Subs may serve attack, guided-missile functions
In only eight years, the Navy will need to begin building a new class of ballistic-missile submarines. Not long after that, in the mid-2020s, a new attack submarine class is scheduled to be developed. And by the back half of the 2020s, the fleet’s four guided-missile submarines will be worn out and need replacement — and with them will go nearly two-thirds of the sub fleet’s cruise-missile tubes.
With money tight and resources increasingly stretched thin, the submarine force continues to consider a merger of the attack and guided-missile concepts, an option that would retain the impressive missile-carrying and special operations abilities of the four SSGNs, only spread out over as many as 20 new attack subs.
According to a briefing from the Navy’s Submarine Warfare Division, or N87, “this design option has been technically studied and is feasible.â€
The idea would be to insert a new hull section with large missile tubes into the existing Virginia-class design. The exact number of missile tubes has yet to be agreed on, although most studies indicate four tubes would be optimal. The new section would be about 94 feet long and increase the length of the submarines, which today stretch 377 feet, by about 25 percent.
Two of the tubes, known as Virginia Payload Tubes, are being installed in the bows of Block III Virginia-class submarines, beginning with North Dakota, which is under construction. The bow VPTs are able to carry six Tomahawk cruise missiles apiece and replace 12 single-tube missile launchers of the original design. Although the VPTs are able to carry a larger variety of payloads, including vehicles and other gear, the bow location prevents dry access when the sub is submerged.
The new hull section, known as the Virginia Payload Module, would feature four in-line, 87-inch-diameter missile tubes able to carry a range of payloads, from Tomahawks — seven apiece, for a total of 28 — to other items that could be floated out. The VPM tubes are configured with access hatches and connectors to enable their use by special operations forces.
The concept continues to be studied and refined by the submarine force and its submarine builders, General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News.
With the VPM, the resulting total of 40 cruise missiles per stretched submarine would not equal the 154-missile payload of the SSGNs, but, if carried out over 20 submarines representing Blocks 5, 6 and 7, the new submarines would make up much of the missile capacity of the four SSGNs.
The 10 Block 5 submarines that are being considered for the VPM begin with the SSNs to be funded in 2019. Block 6, beginning in 2024, and Block 7, beginning in 2029, would each contain five boats, a limit set by Congress.
N87 estimates the VPM would add $400 million to $500 million to the roughly $2.6 billion cost of each new submarine.
“This may seem like a lot of money,†N87’s briefing said about the increase, “until you consider that you can stretch ten Virginias for the cost of one new SSGN.â€
A decision on whether to incorporate the stretch into the Block 5 submarines and delay a new attack submarine until 2034 rests first with Navy leaders.
“It needs to be a decision by the chief of naval operations as to what the [revised] 30-year shipbuilding plan will look like,†said John Padgett, a retired rear admiral who heads the Naval Submarine League.
To complete the change, the Navy would need to make a business and operational case for the redesign. The Pentagon would then need to approve the cost changes, and ultimately Congress would decide whether to go forward.
If the first stretched submarine is to be ordered in 2019, a decision would have to be made several years in advance to allow time for redesign work.
The stretched Virginias represent a solution to one of the four top priorities listed by the submarine force:
• Develop the Ohio-class replacement.
• Add two attack submarines to the 30-year construction plan to meet a shortfall between available submarines and requirements. The submarines would be added in 2018 and 2023, where current plans call for only one boat.
• Delay the Virginia-class follow-on until after completion of the Ohio replacement program.
• Add the VPM to at least 20 Virginias, a move that would delay the need to begin a follow-on design until at least 2034, or after production of the Ohio replacement.
Expanding payloads
The submarine force also is looking to develop new payloads for its submarines.
N87, which is headed by Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, declined numerous requests for an interview for this story, but according to recent briefings, the force is looking for new or improved payloads to:
• Boost intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance abilities with unmanned, underwater vehicles.
• Provide better decoy devices.
• Develop a defensive anti-air warfare weapon.
• Add “long-reach†weapons.
• Beef up anti-surface warfare capabilities and develop a nonlethal anti-surface warfare weapon.
• Create a new strike torpedo.
• Improve “time-critical strike†weapons that can respond within minutes to an unexpected target.
• Improve special operations forces capabilities.
Submarines with these capabilities, coupled with the wide range of weapons already fielded, “provide operational ambiguity that is difficult to counter,†according to the brief.
“Imagine having to defend against every possible SSN capability because you cannot determine through imagery or observation its payload mix or mission."
In only eight years, the Navy will need to begin building a new class of ballistic-missile submarines. Not long after that, in the mid-2020s, a new attack submarine class is scheduled to be developed. And by the back half of the 2020s, the fleet’s four guided-missile submarines will be worn out and need replacement — and with them will go nearly two-thirds of the sub fleet’s cruise-missile tubes.
With money tight and resources increasingly stretched thin, the submarine force continues to consider a merger of the attack and guided-missile concepts, an option that would retain the impressive missile-carrying and special operations abilities of the four SSGNs, only spread out over as many as 20 new attack subs.
According to a briefing from the Navy’s Submarine Warfare Division, or N87, “this design option has been technically studied and is feasible.â€
The idea would be to insert a new hull section with large missile tubes into the existing Virginia-class design. The exact number of missile tubes has yet to be agreed on, although most studies indicate four tubes would be optimal. The new section would be about 94 feet long and increase the length of the submarines, which today stretch 377 feet, by about 25 percent.
Two of the tubes, known as Virginia Payload Tubes, are being installed in the bows of Block III Virginia-class submarines, beginning with North Dakota, which is under construction. The bow VPTs are able to carry six Tomahawk cruise missiles apiece and replace 12 single-tube missile launchers of the original design. Although the VPTs are able to carry a larger variety of payloads, including vehicles and other gear, the bow location prevents dry access when the sub is submerged.
The new hull section, known as the Virginia Payload Module, would feature four in-line, 87-inch-diameter missile tubes able to carry a range of payloads, from Tomahawks — seven apiece, for a total of 28 — to other items that could be floated out. The VPM tubes are configured with access hatches and connectors to enable their use by special operations forces.
The concept continues to be studied and refined by the submarine force and its submarine builders, General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News.
With the VPM, the resulting total of 40 cruise missiles per stretched submarine would not equal the 154-missile payload of the SSGNs, but, if carried out over 20 submarines representing Blocks 5, 6 and 7, the new submarines would make up much of the missile capacity of the four SSGNs.
The 10 Block 5 submarines that are being considered for the VPM begin with the SSNs to be funded in 2019. Block 6, beginning in 2024, and Block 7, beginning in 2029, would each contain five boats, a limit set by Congress.
N87 estimates the VPM would add $400 million to $500 million to the roughly $2.6 billion cost of each new submarine.
“This may seem like a lot of money,†N87’s briefing said about the increase, “until you consider that you can stretch ten Virginias for the cost of one new SSGN.â€
A decision on whether to incorporate the stretch into the Block 5 submarines and delay a new attack submarine until 2034 rests first with Navy leaders.
“It needs to be a decision by the chief of naval operations as to what the [revised] 30-year shipbuilding plan will look like,†said John Padgett, a retired rear admiral who heads the Naval Submarine League.
To complete the change, the Navy would need to make a business and operational case for the redesign. The Pentagon would then need to approve the cost changes, and ultimately Congress would decide whether to go forward.
If the first stretched submarine is to be ordered in 2019, a decision would have to be made several years in advance to allow time for redesign work.
The stretched Virginias represent a solution to one of the four top priorities listed by the submarine force:
• Develop the Ohio-class replacement.
• Add two attack submarines to the 30-year construction plan to meet a shortfall between available submarines and requirements. The submarines would be added in 2018 and 2023, where current plans call for only one boat.
• Delay the Virginia-class follow-on until after completion of the Ohio replacement program.
• Add the VPM to at least 20 Virginias, a move that would delay the need to begin a follow-on design until at least 2034, or after production of the Ohio replacement.
Expanding payloads
The submarine force also is looking to develop new payloads for its submarines.
N87, which is headed by Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, declined numerous requests for an interview for this story, but according to recent briefings, the force is looking for new or improved payloads to:
• Boost intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance abilities with unmanned, underwater vehicles.
• Provide better decoy devices.
• Develop a defensive anti-air warfare weapon.
• Add “long-reach†weapons.
• Beef up anti-surface warfare capabilities and develop a nonlethal anti-surface warfare weapon.
• Create a new strike torpedo.
• Improve “time-critical strike†weapons that can respond within minutes to an unexpected target.
• Improve special operations forces capabilities.
Submarines with these capabilities, coupled with the wide range of weapons already fielded, “provide operational ambiguity that is difficult to counter,†according to the brief.
“Imagine having to defend against every possible SSN capability because you cannot determine through imagery or observation its payload mix or mission."