U.s nuclear submarine12/2/2023 ![]() ![]() Just one Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine would rank as the sixth largest nuclear power in the world, says Bryan Herrin, a Navy veteran who served on the class-namesake USS Ohio. There, sailing silently through a sea of black, today’s submarines lurk-some carrying weapons with the most destructive power humanity has ever created. With a claimed top speed of Mach 8, it could reach a target at the end of its 621-mile range in just six minutes.Īnd while submarines at the onset of the twentieth century could sink to a mere 75 feet, today’s subs can dive to 1,600 feet or deeper, where not even sunlight can reach them. Some subs, like Russia’s newest Yasen-M class, even carry maneuverable hypersonic anti-ship missiles, like the 3M22 Zircon. subs will carry an updated version of the Tomahawk cruise missile that can change targets midcourse and loiter over a target area for hours. The latest generation of hunter-killer and cruise missile subs are also armed with advanced weapons that can strike from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Department of Defense predicts that China will begin constructing its newest Type 093B guided missile nuclear attack submarine by the middle of this decade. China’s growing navy recently eclipsed the U.S.’s as the largest combat fleet in the world. ![]() Russia continues to invest heavily in its submarine forces, as the nonprofit security research group Nuclear Threat Initiative indicates, even as other facets of its military atrophy. And in this modern era when large surface ships are vulnerable to long-range anti-ship missiles, the world’s global powers are doubling down on their undersea efforts. A third type, cruise missile subs (also called guided missile subs), carry out attacks on surface ships and land-based targets from hundreds of miles away.Īt least 43 nations currently operate at least one submarine, according to. Attack subs, which are designed to track and hunt boomer subs to prevent them from ever launching their weapons, can sail faster and dive deeper than any boomer, and they’re equipped with an array of weapons built for deep-sea combat. ![]() But these subs aren’t the undisputed alphas of the oceans. Each will carry 16 onboard nuclear missiles, collectively representing 70 percent of the nuclear weapons that America has ready to use at any one time.īallistic missile submarines like those in the Columbia class have earned the nickname “boomer” for their powerful punch and massive size. It’s one of 12 subs planned in the new Columbia class. has ever put to sea, measuring 560 feet in length and displacing 20,810 tons. When the sub finally enters service in 2031, it will be the largest and most powerful submarine the U.S. Welder Maria Betance-Pizarro from General Dynamics Electric Boat, the sub’s manufacturer, lifted her torch toward a steel plate and inscribed the initials of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes, the boat’s sponsor from D.C. In June 2022, a small group of military officers and politicians gathered on Quonset Point, Rhode Island, to kick off construction of the Navy’s newest and largest sub group, the Columbia class submarines, with a keel-laying ceremony for the USS District of Columbia. ![]()
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