Part 1 of two Parts
I have blogged before about the nuclear modernization program of the U.S. military. Russia is responding with its own modernization. Other countries are reconsidering their nuclear posture such as China, Japan and North Korea. There is concern that if the nuclear treaty with Iran is abandoned, Iran might develop nuclear weapons. It is interesting the note that the U.N. recently brought out a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons on Earth. It is not surprising that those nations with nuclear weapons do not want to abandon them.
The nuclear triad consists of bombers, nuclear missile carrying submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles in silos. Both the U.S. and Russia have over four thousand nuclear warheads which would be enough to destroy human civilization many times over. I have blogged about upgrades of nuclear missiles carried by submarines which make them much more accurate and deadly. The U.S, is also working on a new class of nuclear powered submarines to carry such missiles.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a five billion dollar contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat. The contract is for Integrated Product and Process Development for the Columbia-Class (CC) submarine. The CC is a next-generation nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine whose purpose is to allow the U.S. a retaliatory-attack capability in case the U.S. suffers a surprise nuclear attack. The contract is for “the design, completion, component and technology development and prototyping efforts for the COLUMBIA Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs),” according to a U.S. Navy statement.
The Secretary of the Navy said, “The COLUMBIA class submarine is the most important acquisition program the Navy has today. This contract represents a significant investment in maintaining our strategic deterrent into the future, as well as our ongoing partnership with the United Kingdom.” A Rear Admiral released a statement that said, "Awarding this contract is an important step in ensuring an on-time construction start in FY 2021." The CC is intended to serve the U.S. Navy into the 2080s with the first boat entering service in 2031 after completion of construction in 2028.
The U.S. is planning for the construction of twelve new CC submarines. Each submarine will have sixteen missile tubes. The CC submarine is five hundred and sixty feet long. Each will carry sixteen Trident II D5 missiles in the forty four foot missile tubes. The CC submarines will incorporate stealth technology.
The CC submarines are designed for a forty-two year service life. The CC submarines are being constructed to replace the fourteen existing Ohio-class nuclear submarines. One of the major improvements in the CC design over the OC design is that the CC submarines will have a new nuclear reactor design. Unlike the OC submarines, the CC submarines will be able to operate for forty-two years without needing to be refueled after half of their service life has expired. This means that the twelve CC submarines will be able to serve more deployments than the fourteen old OC submarines. It is estimated that the CC submarines will save the Navy over forty billion dollars.
Please read Part 2
Columbia-Class submarine, NAVSEA concept:
