america's ohio-class submarines that shocked russia the ohio class of nuclear-powered
submarines includes the united states as navy's 14 ballistic missile submarines
or ssbns and its four cruise missile submarines ssgns each displacing 18
750 tons submerged the ohio class boats are the largest submarines ever built for the u.s navy
they're the world's third largest submarines behind the russian navy's soviet design
48 000 ton typhoon class and 24 thousand ton bore class the ohios carry more missiles than either
24 trident two missiles a piece versus sixteen by the beret class twenty by the borei two
and twenty by the typhoon class is the ohio class the u.s navy's ultimate secret weapon
it can destroy an entire country in minutes
the ohio class was initially meant to be a simple upgrade of the lafayette class submarines
but the navy was anxious to include advances in nuclear propulsion quieting learned from the uss
narwhal submarine and its natural circulation technology reactor america's ohio-class
ballistic missile submarines are some of the quietest stealthiest submarines in the world
the ohio submarines represent america's ace in the hole megatons of nuclear firepower quietly
patrolling the world's oceans ensuring that any nuclear attack on the united
states will not go unpunished in addition to the 14 ballistic missile submarines
four have been converted to missile carriers capable of unleashing more
than 150 conventionally armed cruise missiles against the most heavily defended of targets
the ohio-class submarines were the result of an early 1970s requirement for a larger missile
submarine capable of carrying the next generation and beyond of submarine launch ballistic missiles
submarine launch missiles were growing longer and wider due to the demand that they carry
multiple warhead reentry vehicles while maintaining and even extending their range
the us navy's older submarines of the george washington and ethan allen classes were
physically unable to accommodate the newer poseidon and the projected trident series of
missiles
the submarines were designed to be 560 feet long with a beam of 42 feet able to accommodate two
rows of 12 trident c4 later d5 missiles each the hulls were constructed of hy-80 steel for strength
the submarines displaces 18 750 tons submerged as an operating speed in excess of 20 knots
the ohio boats packed 24 trident c4 missiles each with a range of 4 600 miles and carrying eight 100
kiloton warheads this was a marked improvement over the earlier poseidon missile which had a
range of just 2876 miles while poseidon could easily hit moscow from the norwegian sea
more distant targets in central russia and soviet central asia were out of reach
the c4 allowed the ohio class to strike the same area from as far as the mid-atlantic where the
entire western half of the ussr if operating east of iceland altogether each submarine boasted a
total of 19.2 megatons in nuclear weapons in 1990 the ohio-class submarines began transitioning to
a new missile trident d5 that is still in service today d5 is a larger heavier missile that carried
eight warheads of a hundred or 475 kilotons each and has a maximum effective range of 7456 miles
this considerable range upgrade makes it possible for a submarine equipped with trident d5 to strike
any point in the former soviet union while tied up at the submarine base at kings bay georgia
depending on the warhead configuration each ohio submarine armed with d5s went to sea
with a total of 19.2 to 91.2 megatons each fleet ballistic missile submarine spends an
estimated 66 of its time at sea with two sets of cruise blue and gold alternately manning the boat
the trolls last for 70 days with a 25-day handover period in port between crews meaning an average
crew will spend 70 days at sea and 95 days on shore a major 12-month overhaul is undertaken
every nine years since the end of the cold war a number of changes have come about to the missile
submarine fleet under the terms of the start ii treaty the number of nuclear-armed submarines was
reduced from 18 to 14. the 2010 new start treaty limited the number of trident d5s deployed at any
one time to 240 missiles to comply with this four missile launch tubes per submarine are removed
reducing each submarine to 20 missiles each under new start each missile has an average
of three to six warheads arms control experts hans christensen and robert s norris estimate
the united states has between four and five submarines on hard alert at any one time
capable of responding to a surprise nuclear attack with another two undergoing overhauls
one of the least obvious but more important upgrades to the d5 in recent years
is the advent of the super fumes that allows them to attack hardened targets
including communication sites and missile silos
although this ability to hand off counterforce targets to the submarine fleet is meant to make
a smaller nuclear force more credible some experts believe making such a difficult to detect weapons
so deadly is inherently destabilizing the four ohio-class submarines removed from fleet
ballistic missile submarine duty still had 10 to 15 years worth of service left in them
rather than dispose of the hulls the navy found a radical solution convert each to a guided missile
submarine or ssgn each submarine had its ballistic missile tubes reworked to carry up to seven
tomahawk cruise missiles for a total of 154 missiles per submarine a single sub could strike
up to 154 targets with one ton warhead at ranges of nearly a thousand miles a valuable capability
and conventional conflict against countries like iran north korea or even russia or china
the guided missile variants represent a potent kick down the door capability striking enemy
command control and air defense assets before friendly manned aircraft come within range
the 14 ohio-class missile submarines are unseen protectors of america from nuclear ambush
each will probably remain in service for 40 years or more depending on how well their replacements
the columbia class stick to their timetable their conventionally armed brethren offer a powerful
flexible option for dealing with everything from terrorist groups to nation states
these undersea giants are not only the most deadly war machines ever built
but some of the most flexible as well thanks for watching and don't forget to
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