The Virginia-class nuclear-powered cruise missile fast-attack submarine is the latest
vessel in the United States Navy's arsenal. The design incorporates the latest in stealth,
intelligence, and weapons systems technology to be applied for
special deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and littoral operations.
A
formidable weapons platform, the attack submarine can launch up to 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles in
a single salvo, but the remarkable feat is not enough for the Navy. The Virginia-class vessels
are set to become the first submarines in the world armed with high-energy laser weapons.
However, a big hurdle is standing in the way: lasers don't seem to work underwater.
Still, the Navy continues to work on the model,
and most of the system's capabilities are yet to be unveiled, but the expectations
are that Virginia's laser weapon could radically change naval warfare forever…
Change In Pace
The USS Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines were initially intended to provide a
replacement for the Los Angeles class, an aged series that saw action during the Cold War.
However, by the time the first model was actually commissioned,
strategic requirements had changed, budgets had shifted, and the Soviet Union had fallen.
As such, the production of the most expensive United States
Navy fast attack submarine was canceled after only three models were produced.
Years later, in 1991,
the Navy began the development of the next generation of attack submarines.
Developed under the codename Centurion, later renamed the Virginia class, the model was intended
to be a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf, with a one-billion-dollar budget difference.
In order to reduce costs, Virginia-class engineers used many commercial off-the-shelf components,
and ongoing technology has trimmed production costs even further,
below the 1.8 billion dollars per submarine price tag.
By 2007, more than 35 million labor hours had been spent on the Virginia class construction.
A Modern-Day Submarine
The Virginia class, also known as the SSN-774 class, is a type of nuclear-powered cruise
missile fast-attack submarine in service with the United States Navy going back to the early 2000s.
The first American nuclear-powered cruise missile fast-attack submarine of the post-war era,
she will provide the United States Navy the capabilities required to
maintain undersea supremacy well into the 21st century.
As the service's newest undersea warfare platform, the Virginia-class submarine incorporates all
the latest available technology, as well as unique warfare enhancements.
With these improvements, the class is tailored to excel in a wide range of warfighting missions,
including seeking and destroying enemy submarines and surface ships, projecting power ashore with
Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces, carrying out Intelligence, Surveillance,
and Reconnaissance missions, supporting battle group operations and engaging in mine warfare.
With a total length of 377 feet, displacing approximately 7,800 fully submerged,
the submarine can sail at a top speed of 25 knots.
Meanwhile, her crew consists of 15 officers and 117 enlisted men.
The initial construction contract for the first four Virginia-class
nuclear-powered attack submarines, Virginia,
Texas, Hawaii, and North Carolina, was awarded to Electric Boat Corporation,
with Newport News Shipbuilding serving as the primary subcontractor in September of 1998.
As of 2022, 22 Virginia-class submarines have been completed,
and a total of 36 have been procured through the fiscal year.
A team of shipbuilders, industry suppliers,
and the Navy consistently deliver them under budget and ahead of schedule.
At The Cutting Edge
The Virginia-class has special features to support Special Operation Forces, depending
on the mission, and the traditional periscopes have been replaced by two photonics masts.
First created in the 1990s, photonics masts have 360-degree rotating cameras
that catch anything on the horizon with high-resolution black-and-white footage.
The submarine's torpedo room can even be reconfigured to house a large number of
Special Operation Forces, complete with all their equipment for prolonged deployments.
However, in addition to the submarine's advanced-capability
torpedoes and Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, the Virginia class
may soon add another technology to its already impressive features.
According to open-source budget documents,
Virginia-class submarines will be equipped with a high-energy laser weapon.
This was further confirmed by a United States Naval Postgraduate School's lengthy
study regarding the Integration of a High Energy Laser, or HEL, into the class. On the other hand,
the Navy itself published a thesis summary, but officials withheld further details.
Available information suggests that the HEL could be incredibly powerful,
with a range of up to 500 kilowatts, powered by the submarine's nuclear reactor.
It is even said that it may already have been tested using a towed power generator
and that the laser will most likely be incorporated into the photonics mass.
On land and air, laser weapons strike at the speed of light,
quickly deploying to every possible fighting domain.
However, laser light scatters and absorbs quickly while underwater, much like sunlight.
With a submarine reaching complete darkness past 3,280 feet,
it would seemingly render laser weaponry useless.
Still, there are a few suggestions for applications for such laser technology.
Tight-Lipped
Without much available information, submarine experts outside the military
have speculated why the Navy wants to fit a laser into submarines.
One of the possible uses for the novel laser technology is as a modern defense
mechanism against aircraft such as drones and anti-submarine helicopters.
While earlier submarines were equipped with machine guns as an on-the-surface defense,
postwar ones spent little to no time above water.
In fact, the United States Navy hasn't installed machine guns on submarines for over 70 years.
The laser could also be intended for North Korean and Iranian speedboat swarms.
While individual ones are not worth launching a torpedo for,
their wildly unmatched speeds actually make a successful attack much harder.
Finally, another option is to strike critical coastal targets like radar stations,
communications masts, or submarine piers.
With United States Navy officials refusing
to speak to the press about the mysterious laser project,
its exact function and the types of targets it is projected to attack remain a mystery.
And while it may be years before the full capabilities of the system are revealed,
this laser could be what sets the submarine apart from all the other active ones in the world.
Never-Ending Updates
The Virginia-class submarine design has been updated multiple times since 1998.
All the innovations ensure that the ship will be affordable in enough numbers to satisfy America's
future nuclear-attack submarine force-level requirements. As such, the Virginia-class
construction blocks have continued to evolve since the first submarine was commissioned in 2004.
Each successive block has incorporated
additional capabilities and advanced technology while reducing costs.
And just like the last Los Angeles-class attack submarines, the first two blocks of the Virginia
class have a vertical launch system in the bow, with space for 12 Tomahawk missiles.
However, starting with Block III, two key design changes were made,
including replacing a traditional sonar sphere with a more modern Large Aperture Bow
array and the vertical system with two large payload tubes, each carrying six missiles.
In addition, as part of the class’s third, or Block III, contract,
the Navy redesigned approximately 20 percent of the ship to reduce acquisition costs.
This design change resulted in the reduction of the overall procurement
costs by 30 percent without compromising any vital aspects, allowing for the
construction of two Virginia-class attack submarines per year beginning in 2011.
Moreover, the Virginia Payload Module was the next significant
design change to the class, starting with Block V.
Named the VPM, it is a new 84-foot section inserted into the existing submarine
design that contains an additional four large-diameter payload tubes,
like the ones added in Block III. But unlike the bow payload tubes,
the VPM ones can each carry seven Tomahawk missiles, upping the total number to 28.
The first VPM-equipped submarine began construction in 2019.
These soon-to-be introduced VPM-equipped submarines are
the most cost-effective way to restore the Navy's undersea strike capacity,
which will drop by 60 percent when the Ohio-class submarine force is retired by the decade's end.
The Future Is Bright
The promising technology in the United States program has not
gone unnoticed by the international export market.
In September of 2021, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the
cancellation of a contract with a French shipbuilder to construct 12 attack-class
diesel submarines based upon the French Navy's Barracuda-class nuclear submarine.
The same day, Australia, the United Kingdom,
and the United States announced the AUKUS trilateral security pact.
With the agreement, the United States agreed to share nuclear propulsion
technology with Australia and the UK. Under AUKUS, the Australian Navy is set
to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, with the overall design and
key technologies decided by a research team with assistance from the other two nations.
It is rumored that Australian officials may select the Virginia design or use most of
its nuclear propulsion technology in a new design.
Back in the United States, the Virginia-class submarines will
be acquired through 2043 and are expected to remain in service until at least 2070.
As the threats to national security in the seven oceans continue to evolve, the submarine
industrial base design will continue to change. And it will all be achieved through extensive
modular construction, open architecture, and commercial off-the-shelf components.
Such submarines might be the right vehicles for the United States Navy's most critical
underwater missions, complete with a strange and mysterious laser beam, well into the 21st century.
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