Compiled by Ewa Historian John Bond
New Subs New Missions
SUBPAC COMMANDS - Attack Submarines
https://www.csp.navy.mil/SUBPAC-Commands/Submarines/Attack-Submarines/
USS Seawolf
The Navy has three classes of SSNs in service. Los Angeles (SSN 688)-class submarines are the backbone of the submarine force with 40 now in commission. Thirty Los Angeles-class SSNs are equipped with 12 Vertical Launch System tubes for firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Navy also has three Seawolf-class submarines. Commissioned on July 19, 1997, USS Seawolf (SSN 21) is exceptionally quiet, fast, well-armed, and equipped with advanced sensors. Though lacking Vertical Launch Systems, the Seawolf class has eight torpedo tubes and can hold up to 50 weapons in its torpedo room. The third ship of the class, USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23), has a 100-foot hull extension called the multi-mission platform. This hull section provides for additional payloads to accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities.
The Navy continues to build the next-generation attack submarine, the Virginia (SSN 774) class. Twelve VIRGINIA's have been commissioned to date and they will replace Los Angeles Class submarines as they retire. The Virginia class has several innovations that significantly enhance its warfighting capabilities with an emphasis on littoral operations. Virginia class SSNs have a fly-by-wire ship control system that provides improved shallow-water ship handling.
The class has special features to support SOF (Special Operations Forces), including a reconfigurable torpedo room which can accommodate a large number of SOF and all their equipment for prolonged deployments and future off-board payloads. The class also has a large lock-in/lock-out chamber for divers.
In Virginia-class SSNs, traditional periscopes have been supplanted by two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms. With the removal of the barrel periscopes, the ship's control room has been moved down one deck and away from the hull's curvature, affording it more room and an improved layout that provides the commanding officer with enhanced situational awareness. Additionally, through the extensive use of modular construction, open architecture, and commercial off-the-shelf components, the Virginia class is designed to remain state-of-the-practice for its entire operational life through the rapid introduction of new systems and payloads.
The next major change will be incorporation of the VIRGINIA Payload Module (VPM) in Block V submarines. VPM, currently in the early concept development phase, will insert four additional payload tubes - each capable of carrying seven Tomahawk cruise missiles - into the Virginia class design.
Navy Selects Virginia Payload Module Design Concept
https://news.usni.org/2013/11/04/navy-selects-virginia-payload-module-design-concept
The Navy has selected a design concept to replace its nuclear guided missile submarines (SSGNs), NAVSEA officials told USNI News in an interview last week.
Late last month NAVSEA and the Navy settled on a design concept for the Virginia Payload Module, a $743 million design change in the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines (SSN-774) that will eventually replace the current Ohio-class SSGNs as part of the Block V iteration of the attack boat.
The design will extend the hull by approximately 70 feet to include four so-called Virginia Payload Tubes (VPT) each containing seven Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs). Combined with two six-round VPTs in the bow, the total number of TLAMS per boat increases to 40, Capt. David Goggins, NAVSEA program manager for the Virginia-class, told USNI News on Oct. 31.
The Navy thinks it needs at least 20 boats equipped with VPMs to make up for the retirement of the four SSGNs.
UUV - Unmanned underwater vehicle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_underwater_vehicle
Sometimes known as underwater drones, are any vehicles that are able to operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into the two categories of remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROUVs), which are controlled by a remote human operator, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which operate independently of direct human input.
Navy Wants to Use Virginia Payload Module to Deploy New Missiles, UUVs
https://news.usni.org/2018/11/14/navy-looking-use-virginia-payload-module-deploy-new-missiles-uuvs
The undersea warfare community wants to boost attack sub lethality by providing new payloads for the Virginia-class SSNs, especially ones that can be leveraged through the Virginia Payload Module missile tubes that will be added to new-construction boats beginning this year.
Program Executive Office for Submarines Executive Director George Drakeley said at the two-day annual Naval Submarine League symposium last week that, when the Navy was first pitching the idea of adding the VPM missile tube capacity to SSNs, “we were only really allowed to talk about it as a replacement for SSGN (Ohio-class guided-missile submarine) strike; we weren’t able to talk about other missions. And most of you here as submariners and warfighters could think of a lot of things you could do with a VPM. Well, the handcuffs are off now, and lately we’ve been talking about other capabilities.”
“We’re in a great power competition now, and so we need to be focusing on other potential capabilities,” he said, citing Russia and China as adversaries that needed to be kept in mind while developing these new payloads.
Rear Adm. John Tammen, director of undersea warfare on the chief of naval operations’ staff (OPNAV N97), said at the event that “we have to get past the days of just ADCAP (advanced capability Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo) and TLAM (Tomahawk land-attack missile) as being our two principle weapons.”
Tammen told the crowd during his presentation that “when we originally sold the Virginia Payload Module it was to reconstitute the TLAM strike inventory that we’re losing with Ohio-class SSGNs. We have to make sure that [U.S. Pacific Command] and [U.S. European Command] have the TLAMs they need to carry out their war plans,” but he added OPNAV N97 will “continue to give options to the commanders in terms of payloads for those tubes.”
“One of the items that’s being looked at on Block VI is SOF (Special Operations Forces) optimization,” Virginia-class program manager Capt. Chris Hanson said during a panel discussion.
Special Operations Forces (SOF) Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAL_Delivery_Vehicle
The SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) is a manned submersible and a type of swimmer delivery vehicle used to deliver United States Navy SEALs and their equipment for special operations missions. It is also operated by the Royal Navy's Special Boat Service, which operates 3 SDVs.
The SDV, which has been in continuous service since 1983, is used primarily for covert or clandestine missions to denied access areas (either held by hostile forces or where military activity would draw notice and objection). It is generally deployed from the Dry Deck Shelter on a specially-modified attack or ballistic missile submarines, although it can also be launched from surface ships or land. It has seen combat in the Gulf War, Iraq War, and the US intervention in Somalia.
The SDV was intended to be replaced with the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), a larger, dry submersible that is often confused with the SDV. The SDV is flooded, and the swimmers ride exposed to the water, breathing from the vehicle's compressed air supply or using their own SCUBA gear, while the ASDS is dry inside and equipped with a full life support and air conditioning system. The ASDS was canceled in 2009 due to cost overruns and the loss of the prototype in a fire. The Navy currently plans to replace the SDV with the Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS), which will be designated the Mark 11 SDV. The SWCS is expected to enter service in 2019.
The Seal Delivery Vehicle (or SDV) is the current method through which SOF ingress an area while submerged. It is a wet sub, meaning it has an open cockpit that exposes its crew to the environment and requires SCUBA gear for its use. These two factors severely limit mission duration times and therefore restricts the missions for which it can be used. Inserting SOF personnel is perhaps the only mission it is currently used for. Additionally, SDV’s must be carried to an area of interest by large blue water submarines which limit the total number that could be used at any one time.
Pearl Harbor Prototype Mini-Sub Project Shelved 2009
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Dec/14/ln/hawaii812140366.html
The Navy's one and only ASDS arrived at Pearl Harbor in 2000 and was heralded as leap-ahead technology that would deliver SEAL commandos dry and rested rather than shivering and cold in the existing SEAL delivery vehicle, a cramped open-water design requiring scuba tanks.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jul/25/ln/hawaii907250321.html
$237 million repair estimate from Nov. 9 2008 fire kills Pearl Harbor based Navy SEAL mini-sub project
A one-of-a-kind SEAL mini-sub based at Pearl City Peninsula that has been plagued by years of development problems and cost overruns won't be repaired after a November fire because the work would cost $237 million and take nearly three years, U.S. Special Operations Command said yesterday.
Designed to ride piggyback on the Los Angeles-class submarines Greeneville and Charlotte, both based at Pearl Harbor, as well as on new Virginia-class submarines and former ballistic missile subs converted to carry conventional missiles and commandos, the boxy, 8-foot-diameter ASDS was designed to sneak up close to shore with two crew and up to 16 SEALs.
Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_Water_Combat_Submersible
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated announced today that its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., in Huntsville, Ala., was awarded a contract from the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to design, develop, test, manufacture and sustain the Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS), a replacement system for the current SEAL Delivery Vehicle. The contract, including all options, is valued at $383 million.
Navy SEALs Are Getting New Mini-Subs
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/u-s-navy-seals-are-getting-new-mini-subs-273770fac0a3
The U.S. Navy is hard at work developing new underwater transports for its elite commandos. The SEALs expect the new craft—and improvements to large submarine “motherships” that will carry them—to be ready by the end of the decade. Now the sailing branch is looking to buy two new kinds of mini-subs. While details are understandably scarce, the main difference between the two concepts appears to be the maximum range.
The Shallow Water Combat Submersible will haul six or more naval commandos across relatively short distances near the surface. The SWCS, which weighs approximately 10,000 pounds, will replace older Mark 8 Seal Delivery Vehicles, or SDVs. The other sub, called the Dry Combat Submersible, will carry six individuals much farther and at greater depths. The most recent DCS prototype weighs almost 40,000 pounds and can travel up to 60 nautical miles while 190 feet below the waves.
USSOCOM’s Mini-Subs Progress Into The 2020s
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/08/ussocoms-mini-subs-progress-into-the-2020s/
According to PEO Maritime, Captain Kate Dolloff (USN), at the virtual SOCOM conference in mid-May 2020, the progress includes fielding of new next-generation mini-subs (i.e.: submersibles) such as the SEAL Delivery Vehicle Mark Eleven (SDV 11), the sustainment and modernization of the six Legacy-age Dry Deck Shelters (DDS), and the testing and building of the Dry Combat Submersible (DCS) Block Ones in addition to studying the fielding of DCS Block Two.
According to virtual SOFIC 2020, the improved next-generation 22-foot long SEAL Delivery Vehicle Mark 11s (SDV MK 11) is a new build, wet, free-flooding miniature submersible that is being built by Teledyne Brown Engineering at a sole-source contract of $178 million for ten SDV MK 11s. SOCOM calls them the “Shallow Water Combat Submersible,” designed to insert and extract SEALs in high-threat environments, usually under the cover of darkness at night.
General Dynamics Electric Boat Awarded $22.2 Billion by U.S. Navy for Fifth Block of Virginia-Class Submarines
The U.S. Navy today awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a contract valued at $22.2 billion for the construction of 9 new Virginia-class submarines. The contract also includes the option of a tenth ship to be constructed within the contract time frame, bringing the total potential contract value to approximately $24.1 billion. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
The multi-year ‘Block V’ contract enables Electric Boat as prime contractor, along with its teammate, Newport News Shipbuilding, to deliver Virginia-class fast-attack submarines with advanced capabilities and expanded capacity to the Navy. Construction on Block V ships will begin this year, with deliveries scheduled from 2025 through 2029.
Eight of the ships produced for Block V will include the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), which Electric Boat will build at a recently-constructed facility at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The VPM will comprise four additional large-diameter payload tubes located amidships, increasing the fixed strike capacity of the ship by more than 230 percent. VPM, which was designed by Electric Boat, will enable enhanced use of Special Operating Forces and allow the Navy to bring aboard additional weapons, sensors and other special payloads.
Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding already have delivered 18 Virginia-class submarines to the Navy and all 10 Block IV submarines are currently under construction. Virginia-class submarines displace 7,800 tons, with a hull length of 377 feet and a diameter of 34 feet. With VPM, the submarines will displace 10,200 tons and have a length of 460 feet. They are capable of speeds in excess of 25 knots and can dive to a depth greater than 800 feet, while carrying Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes, Tomahawk land-attack missiles and unmanned underwater vehicles.
The US Navy, facing a shortfall, aims to ink an enormous attack sub contract next month
Checking In At Bangor
The U.S. Navy is preparing to sign a contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat and subcontractor Huntington Ingalls Industries for the next tranche of Virginia-class submarines, according to budget documents submitted to Congress this week.
The 10-ship contract, which will include nine of the 84-foot Virginia Payload Module upgrades, is planned for April, the documents say. The VPM is designed to triple the Tomahawk cruise missile capacity of the Virginia-class subs, a move designed to offset the pending retirement of the Ohio-class guided-missile subs, which have a 154-Tomahawk capacity. Each Virginia Payload Module sub will have a 40-Tomahawk loadout.
The first Virginia Payload Module ship, SSN-803, will be awarded as part of the block buy and is slated for a 2025 delivery, the documents say.
Here’s what you need to know about the US Navy’s new deadly (and expensive) attack subs
The largest shipbuilding contract in the history of the service — in excess of $22 billion — the Navy has big plans for Block V. It is destined to be a true multi-mission submarine, with a strike capability and the ability to delivery large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicles in addition to the more traditional surveillance mission.
Here are the things you need to know about the vessel:
A bigger boat
Most of Block V is going to be bigger (much bigger) than its older sisters in the class. Of the nine — potentially 10 — boats in the class, eight of them will have 84-foot sections plugged into the hull that will include four large-diameter tubes rated for seven Tomahawks each. In addition to the 12 in the bow, that means each Block V will have the capacity for 40 cruise missiles.
But it’s not just the traditional Tomahawk land-attack missiles that will be stuffed in the payload module. Submariners are envisioning a whole range of missions for the big tubes, such as:
Deploying large-diameter unmanned undersea vehicles for various missions.
Launching hypersonic prompt-strike missiles.
Launching Tomahawk’s new maritime strike iteration against ships in addition to the existing Harpoon missile.
Torpedoes.
Really anything they can get to fit in there that could benefit from being deployed off a submarine.
Responsibilities galore
Because the Navy designed a lot of versatility in the platform, the Block V will act as a Swiss Army knife for undersea warfare, taking on a range of missions that traditionally have gone to the retiring guided-missile submarines, or SSGNs, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
That’s going to require a cultural change inside the submarine community, Clark said.
“The Block V will be a marked difference in terms of the concept of operations for a multi-mission ship,” he said. “For strike, that mission has largely been sent off to SSGNs: They’ve focused on Tomahawk missions and SEAL delivery; the rest of the attack submarines have focused on focused on traditional intelligence-gathering missions.
“With the introduction of Block V, those missions are going to expand to a larger percentage of the force.”
Much of that is already part of submariner training, but the emphasis will have to be increased, Clark predicted.
“Submariners were always trained on Tomahawk missions, anti-ship missions and swimmer delivery: Those are all things you train for in case you have to do them,” he said. “But with the advent of Block V, those missions are going to have to be a bigger part of submariner training. And with [the] Tomahawk maritime strike missile coming into the fleet, they are going have an anti-ship mission alongside the older [Los Angeles-class] 688s having the torpedo-tube launched harpoon.
“So in a lot of ways the submarine community is going back in [the] direction it was during the Cold War — it was a much more expansive mission then back then. Then It narrowed with the introduction of the SSGN. Now its set to expand again.”
It’s expensive as hell
As one might expect for a big multi-mission attack submarine, the Virginia Block V is mind-bogglingly expensive. With a total value of the program sitting at $35 billion when government- furnished equipment is added, each sub will cost in excess of $3.5 billion per hull, should the Navy buy all 10 of the Block Vs.
The Navy has recognized that with the proliferation of long-range anti-ship missiles, the service will need to put more missiles than ever in the air to strike launchers inland and to defend major assets such as aircraft carriers from attack.
But relying on submarines for the strike component is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, superior submarines mean a higher chance that the Block Vs will be able to operate inside Chinese and Russian anti-access windows — or areas where surface ships would be vulnerable. The problem is that the Navy might go bankrupt before it creates the volume of fires it would need to combat a massive missile power like China.
Navy Is Turning Its Nuclear Attack Submarines into Cruise Missile Boats
Old School Boomer Missile Boat - New Attack Subs Will Be Multi-Mission
Unlike previous Virginia-class SSNs, the Block III version dispenses with 12 individual tubes for cruise missiles and replaces those with a pair of large diameter Virginia Payload Tubes.
With the new configuration, each VPT will carry six missiles in a canister that can be swapped out—but the new system initially had some teething issues. Those issues have been resolved, leaving the Navy with a launch system with few parts and which should be more reliable while also allowing for future growth.
The Navy is currently developing the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), which would add a roughly 84-foot hull section to the Virginia-class boats containing four 87-inch missile tubes. Each of those four tubes could then carry seven additional Tomahawk cruise missiles in Multiple-All-Up-Round Canisters (MACs). That would afford each submarine the capacity to carry 28 additional Tomahawks—bringing total missile capacity up to 40 weapons. In the future, those tubes could be used to carry different payloads.
The Cultural Differences Between Serving On America’s Three Types Of Nuclear Submarines
The Nuclear Fast Attack Submarine (SSN): Chaotic Readiness
The fast-paced world of the nuclear attack submarine is the most rewarding for a sailor who wants to travel the world and likes a rush. If something needs to happen quietly, the U.S. Navy sends in the 'attack' nuclear submarine, the SSN, a force that is currently made up of Virginia, Seawolf, and Los Angeles class boats.
This kind of rapid response platform has a culture centered around readiness. The SSN is always on the firing line in port, at sea, and on the station. It can receive mission tasking at any time and it must respond. The SSN schedule is dynamic. Long term milestones, such as dry dock refit and nuclear refueling, are planned out years in advance and generally are not changed. Mid-term goals, like nuclear safety inspections and tactical readiness evaluations, are on an annual rotation, but they are a little flexible as to when they begin. Short term events, such as weapons loading and diesel maintenance, are crammed into availability slots during brief in-port periods.
Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN): A Routine Lifestyle
Schedule and routine are the order of the day in the nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) world. We don't like surprises when dealing with nuclear weapons. This makes SSBN culture the polar opposite of SSN culture. It is very top-down coordinated from the squadron level. When a sailor reports to their first SSBN command, they know every underway, refit, dry dock, nuclear, and tactical inspection scheduled for the next four years.
Each United States Navy SSBN has a Blue and a Gold crew. While one crew is underway for 70 or more days, the other crew is shore-based, training. This kind of rotation gives the sailor a more routine lifestyle that is better for a family than any other command in the U.S. Navy.
Nuclear Guided Missile Submarine (SSGN): The Admiral's New Toy
After 1994's Nuclear Posture Review and the years of experimentation and testing that followed, four Ohio class nuclear ballistic missile submarines began conversion to nuclear guided-missile submarines (SSGNs). These multi-role boats could sling 154 tomahawk missiles, carry 66 SEAL team members, and have enough communications equipment for a command ship. They became the hottest boats to be on in the submarine service.
The American SSGN boats stay forward-deployed in Guam and Diego Garcia, but have as much underway time as the SSBNs. The SSGN combines the stealth capability of a ballistic missile submarine, because that is what they were originally, with the capacity for a massive tactical weapons strike, covert SEAL team insertion and extraction, and signals intelligence gathering. These versatile submarines receive a lot of attention from above the squadron level and their presence in a theatre impacts both diplomatic and military maneuvers. A single SSGN will typically have about half the tactical missile strike capability of the entire naval task force. She is like being the queen of the naval chessboard.
The U.S. Navy Signs Up for 9 New Nuclear Submarines
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a30109198/block-v-virginia-submarine/
The U.S. Navy has just signed the largest warship building deal ever. The service will pay more than 20 billion dollars for nine new Virginia-class attack submarines. The submarines will replace Cold War-era Los Angeles-class boats in America’s submarine fleet, adding new technology and greater firepower. Many of the new submarines will include a long-awaited capability to launch swarms of cruise missiles.
The U.S. Navy has approximately 65 submarines in service. Fourteen are Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, part of America’s nuclear triad and built to carry out nuclear deterrence patrols. A handful of these submarines are at sea at all times, armed with nuclear weapons. The Navy also maintains four converted Ohio-class submarines capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles (TLAMs) a detachment of Navy SEALs and their swimming vehicles, or some combination. The service also operates 35 older Los Angeles-class attack submarines, three Seawolf class submarines, and 13 of the newer Virginia-class submarines.
As the Navy’s looming attack submarine shortfall drew more attention, though, the service researched industrial base capacity and realized the production lines could support adding a third boat in 2022 and 2023. The addition of two submarines in the block buy would have mitigated the impact of a shrinking submarine force at a time when combatant commanders around the globe increasingly request attack boat presence.
The Virginia-class submarines were developed in the 2000s after the cancellation of the Seawolf-class after construction of just three boats. The Seawolf submarines are large, powerful, deep-diving submarines capable and hunting Soviet missile-firing submarines under the Arctic ice. The end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union meant the U.S. Navy could no longer justify the cost of the submarines.
The Virginias were designed as jack-of-all-trade submarines, not just capable of fighting major adversaries but also sitting off the coastlines of foreign countries, collecting intelligence, deploying SEAL frogmen, and acting as launch platforms for TLAMs.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a19746695/us-navy-subs-infographic/
Mk-45 Vertical Launching System (VLS)
http://www.seaforces.org/wpnsys/SUBMARINE/Mk-45-vertical-launching-system.htm
