Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) christened the Virginia-class submarine, New Jersey (SSN
796), at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding
New Jersey is the 23rd Virginia-class submarine and the 11th to be delivered by Newport News
Shipbuilding.
It is the first submarine designed with a modification for gender integration.
The submarine is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in late 2022.
Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and
former chief of naval operations, gave the keynote speech .
“Today is a day of gratitude, especially to the 4,000 men and women whose hard work
put New Jersey together,” said Mullen, adding that the nation must prevail in an ideological
battle against an adversary it has not seen before.
He stated, “The future USS New Jersey will be a critical — some say the most critical
— arrow in our quiver” In this video Defense Updates analyzes why
USS New Jersey would be a critical addition for the US Navy?
Let’s get started.
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The Virginia class, sometimes referred to as SSN-774 class, is a class of nuclear-powered
fast attack submarines in service with the United States Navy.
Virginia class is designed to replace older Los Angeles-class submarines, many of which
have already been decommissioned.
Virginia-class submarines will be acquired through 2043, and are expected to remain in
service till 2070.
Virginia-class submarines are designed for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral
missions.
Their primary purpose is to take out enemy's surface combatants and submarines and the
secondary task is to execute land-attack missions.
The Virginia class is built through an industrial arrangement designed to maintain both GD Electric
Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding, the only two U.S. shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered
submarines.
New Jersey has a length of 115 m.
To give viewers a perspective, its length is slightly greater than that of a football
field.
It displaces around 7,900 tons.
New Jersey, like all other Block IV subs, is acknowledged to be able to move to depths
of 240m (800 feet) but allegedly capable of going down to 490 m (1,600 feet).
A single S9G reactor that produces around 30 MW powers New Jersey
The reactor features improved corrosion resistance and reduced life-cycle costs.
It also has reduced size and weight enabling the submarine to pack more weapons and sensors.
The S9G reactor is designed to operate for 33 years without refueling.
So, New Jersey will have a practically unlimited range, limited by only food supplies and maintenance
requirements.
The reactor produces enough power to propel New Jersey over 25 knots that's 46 km/hr or
29 mph.
Block IV consists of 10 submarines.
On 28 April 2014, the most costly shipbuilding contract in history was awarded to General
Dynamics Electric Boat as the prime contractor.
The deal for ten Block IV Virginia-class attack submarines was worth $17.6 billion
The main improvement over Block III is the reduction of major maintenance periods from
four to three, increasing each ship's total lifetime deployments by one.
So, the Block IV variant will be capable of a total of about 15 deployments.
The Virginia class is the first to use photonic sensors instead of a traditional periscope.
The class is equipped with high-resolution cameras, along with light-intensification
and infrared sensors as well as an infrared laser rangefinder.
The Block IV variant of the Virginia-class has redesigned elements and features several
types of sonar arrays.
1.
It incorporates a Large-Aperture Bow (LAB) water-backed array, which replaces the traditional
air-backed spherical array.
This main sonar is one of the most powerful sonars mounted in any of the submarines in
the world.
2.
Two high-frequency active sonars mounted in the sail and bow.
These supplements the main sonar array improving anti-submarine warfare performance.
3.
A fiber optic sonar array, consisting of 3 flat panels is present on either side of the
hull.
4.
For coverage above and behind the submarine, a High-frequency sonar is mounted on both
sides of the submarine’s sail.
New Jersey is also equipped with a low frequency towed sonar array and a high frequency towed
sonar array.
New Jersey will be deadly as it is packed with different kinds of weapons to knock out
various types of targets.
1.
Two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching 6 Tomahawk cruise
missiles.
Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, cruise missile that is used for land-based attacks.
It has a long range of 1200 to 2500 km, enabling them to be launched from far off.
2.
Four 533 mm torpedo tubes for the Mk-48 torpedo.
There is a capacity to carry up to 26 Mk-48 torpedoes in the weapon's chamber.
These torpedoes have a range in excess of 50 km or 31 miles and can be used to take
out enemy submarines and surface vessels.
3.
Like all Virginia class submarines, New Jersey will also be able to lay different types of
mines including the MK-60 CAPTOR Encapsulated Torpedo mines.
4.
An integral lock-out/lock-in chamber is incorporated into the hull for special operations.
The chamber can host a mini-submarine, such as Northrop Grumman’s Advanced SEALS Delivery
System that can be used to transport special warfare forces such as Navy SEAL teams.
The main rivals of the U.S, Russia & China are going ahead with the construction of several
new subs.
Russia plans to build a total of 8 Yasen M class submarines, several new Kilo-class subs
as well as new Borei class submarines.
The Chinese Navy has been given special attention and is getting a good share of the military
budget.
It is developing a wide range of conventional as well as nuclear-powered submarines.
The Virginia-class Block IV submarines are multi-mission vessels as they are equipped
with torpedoes to take out enemy subs and surface ships and has missiles for the land
attack as well as can perform a variety of tasks like surveillance work and the delivery
of Special Operations forces.
Hence, New Jersey will be an excellent addition to the US Navy fleet.