From a greater transit speed to weapons load, the next-generation SSN(X) platform will be hard to beat.
Now that the U.S. Navy’s upcoming SSN(X)-class submarine program has been delayed to the early 2040s, the service’s existing fleet must ensure a lapse in sea power does not occur. The hefty delay associated with this next-generation class is attributed in part to ongoing issues within America’s shipbuilding industrial base. From budgetary constraints to retention dilemmas, nearly all of the service’s upcoming projects have been negatively impacted. While the Trump administration has made the rectification of the U.S. shipbuilding industry a top priority per an executive order issued earlier this year, the Navy’s surface fleet could still suffer from capability shortcomings in the near future.
The SSN(X) Submarine
Since the Navy’s fleet of submarines holds a large chunk of the country’s nuclear weapons arsenal, maintaining these vessels and introducing new and improved successors is perhaps the most critical responsibility the military possesses. The service’s next-generation SSN(X) submarine is expected to host all the latest and greatest technologies when introduced down the line. While limited information about SSN(X) has been publicized, the Navy has detailed that “SSN(X) will be designed to counter the growing threat posed by near-peer adversary competition for undersea supremacy. It will provide greater speed, increased horizontal payload capacity, improved acoustic superiority, and higher operational availability.” Additionally, the next-gen platform will be able to carry out “full spectrum undersea warfare” while retaining multi-mission functions in denied waters. From a greater transit speed to weapons load, this next-generation platform will be hard to beat. However, the submarine’s target production date has been pushed back to fiscal year 2040, arguably giving the People’s Republic of China more time to make greater strides in their own stealth submarine programs.
The Virginia-class Submarine
The Virginia-class has remained the cornerstone of the Navy’s power projection strategy for decades. These vessels are able to travel at speeds in excess of 25 knots while under sail and displace roughly 8,000 tons with hull lengths of 377 feet. In terms of lethality, the Virginia boats are top-notch. Each submarine in this class is fitted with 12 vertical missile launch tubes and four 533mm torpedo tubes. The vertical launching system is able to fire 16 Tomahawk submarine-launched cruise missiles in one salvo. It also can launch up to 26 mk48 ADCAP mod 6 heavyweight torpedoes and sub-harpoon anti-ship missiles. While these specs alone are impressive, the latest Block V variant is even more capable. The new Virginia Payload Module (VPM) is incorporated into this variant, enabling the Block V submarines to be able to interact with the seafloor and store more weapons than earlier variants. As detailed by The Drive, the new VPM, which will be fitted to the upcoming Block V Virginia-class ships, features a “similar hull plug that stretches 84 feet that would be adapted to the seabed warfare role instead of hauling around cruise, hypersonic, and other missiles.”
As tensions continue to build in the Red Sea, Black Sea, and South China Sea, ensuring the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleets continue to retain an edge over their foreign counterparts is essential.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
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