US Navy News and Updates on the Columbia class Submarines

[OPSSG]

This is a sister thread of US Navy News and updates

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/989383642672717824

General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB), announced on 5 Nov 2020 that the U.S. Navy has awarded it a US$9.474 billion contract modification option for construction and test of the lead and second ships of the Columbia class, as well as associated design and engineering support.

The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the United States Navy’s current force of 14 agings Ohio-class SSBNs. The U.S. Navy has identified the Columbia-class program as the U.S. Navy’s top priority program.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1334126286676094985

The U.S. Navy’s four Ohio Class cruise missile submarines (SSGNs) can carry a total of 154 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM Block-IV) in their missile silos. When added to the torpedo room, this gives a total of 176 full-size weapons. And the submarines may soon receive new hypersonic missiles which could transform their capabilities. The new missile, being developed under the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) program,

The U.S. Navy has planned to procure the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021. Research and development work on the program has been underway for several years, and advance procurement (AP) funding for the first boat began in FY2017.

The U.S. Navy’s FY2021 budget submission estimates the procurement cost of the first Columbia- class boat at US$14,393.4 million (i.e., about US$14.4 billion) in then-year dollars, including US$6,007.8 million (i.e., about US$6.0 billion) in costs for plans, meaning (essentially) the detail design/non- recurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the Columbia class.

It is a longstanding Navy budgetary practice to incorporate the DD/NRE costs for a new class of ship into the total procurement cost of the first ship in the class.

Type	Ballistic missile submarine (SSBN)
Displacement (submerged)	20,810 long tons/metric tons 21,144
Length	561 feet/171 m
Hull Diameter	43 feet/13.1 m
Speed	20+ knots/23+ mph/37 km/h
Diving Depth	800+ feet/244+ m
Range	Unlimited
Complement	155 (accommodation)
Propulsion	Nuclear, Electric Drive
Missile Tubes	16
Weapons System	Trident II D5 (LE)

At 561 feet/171 meters long with a displacement of nearly 21,000 tons, the submarines of the Columbia class will be the largest ever built by the United States. Ships of the Columbia class will have a life-of-ship fuel core that will power the submarine for its entire service life, eliminating the need for a mid-service refueling. Electric Boat will deliver the lead ship to the U.S. Navy in 2027.

Report on the Columbia-class Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Program - USNI News

The following is the Feb. 26, 2020 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress. From the report The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new ballistic...

news.usni.org

 

[OPSSG]

The U.S. Navy has developed a Tactical Submarine Evolution Plan (TSEP) that looks at rapidly inserting capability upgrades into the Virginia-class attack submarine mid-contract and considers long-term undersea warfare priorities such as converting the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) production line into a guided-missile submarine (SSGN) line in the late 2030s.

The TSEP doesn’t just look at adding the capability to the Virginia-class subs and its successor SSN(X). It also looks at the SSGN concept: the fleet’s four SSGNs are set to decommission by 2028, and while the Virginia Payload Module and its extra missile tubes are meant to mitigate the loss, they don’t make up for the full strike capability – nor the special operations forces support – the fleet will lose at the end of the SSGNs’ life.

To address that firepower gap, the TSEP looks at the possibility of using the Columbia-class SSBN design and production line to flow into an SSGN production line in the mid-2030s. General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls’ Newport News Shipbuilding will build a dozen SSBNs – one in 2021, one in 2024, and then one a year in 2026 through 2035 – and talks are underway about keeping that production line warm by building more guided-missile subs.

 

[John Fedup]

Can’t recall where but the here was an article mentioning the use of the same hull diameter as the Columbia for the future SSN(x) along with many of the new technologies being developed. This could be a path for allowing simultaneous building of BN, GN and N(x) subs sometime in the 2030s.

 

[Terran]

@John Fedup Perhaps one of these little gems

BWXT CEO: Navy’s Next-Generation SSN(X) Attack Boat Will Build Off Columbia Class - USNI News

The Navy’s next attack submarine will feature technology in the Columbia-class program and be significantly larger than the current class of the Virginia-class attack submarines, the chief executive of BWX Technologies said on Monday as part of the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The head...

news.usni.org

Navy's Next Attack Submarine Will Be Wider And Based On The New Columbia Class Missile Boats

The SSN(X) design will be wider than the present Virginia class, offering improved capabilities and increased stealthiness underwater.

www.thedrive.com

Near term SSGN / SSBN roles will remain with Ohio class. Mid term the Virginia Payload modules added to the next Virginia class block will start taking up more of the GN role longer term in 2029 Ohio is slated for the Razor factory. The Boomers of the class are the later block but Columbia is barring any major changes slated to enter service 2031.

 

[Delta204]

To add to Terran's post and John's comments. Another recent article describing anticipated capabilities for SSN(X)

Navy New Virginia Block VI Virginia Attack Boat Will Inform SSN(X) - USNI News

I found the quoted comments from the Vice Adm. particularly interesting:

We’re going to get alternatives and make decisions on how to make this new SSN match what we need to stay ahead of our peers. This is definitely going to be increased speed: there’s no question that speed is basically important to improve every single joint warfare function. Speed is just so important – it plays out so well in all our wargaming, so it helps compensate for bad decisions, it also helps us get to the fight faster and helps us in all-domain maneuver warfare,

Since I have no prior naval or military experience comments like these I find revealing. Granted the USN is unique in their rather aggressive and offensive minded naval doctrine, particularly for their SSN's. I remember years ago reading an article that described how US SSN's planned to race up through the arctic and into the Barents Sea to destroy as much of the Northern fleet as possible should a war between the two begin (also mentioned in this article on Seawolf capabilities). I imagine the USN has now been fine tuning similar plans over the last number of years for the South China Sea.