Naval capabilities
Above: Designed to replace hulkier Cold War predecessors, the Virginia-class submarine was first commissioned in the early 2000s.
Opening page: The versatility of the Virginia- class make them ideal for ‘grey wars’.
Plumb the depths In large part, the US’s existing submarine fleet was shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union. With Moscow humbled and Beijing still an economic minnow, the US’s strategic planners saw their country without any serious rivals. With Pax Americana the order of the day, Washington believed its military could instead focus on less equal threats: tinpot despots, terrorists, pirates. This, at any rate, was the broad thinking behind the Virginia-class submarine. Designed to replace hulkier Cold War predecessors, they were first commissioned in the early 2000s. To put it another way, says Bryan Clark, the Virginia-class obviously had softer targets in mind than the Soviet Baltic Fleet. As Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute says, the Virginia-class are “economical submarines for the post-Cold War environment” and more lightly armed than their forebears.
“The phenomenal rise of the Chinese navy, including its submarine fleet is no doubt a part of what is shaping the US Navy’s requirements.”
HI Sutton, independent naval analyst 60 Forbes 28
The number of operational submarines currently possessed by China.
This makes the Virginia-class incredibly versatile. Clark notes they excel at everything from delivering commandos to spying on enemy shorelines, ideal for the kind of ‘grey wars’ the US was engaged in during the first years of this century. Yet their relatively small scale also means they’re less suited to direct confrontations with enemy submarines. That could soon become a serious problem, particularly given the ominous ascent of China. “The phenomenal rise of the Chinese navy, including its submarine fleet,” says HI Sutton, an independent naval analyst, “is no doubt a part of what is shaping the US Navy’s requirements”. Fair enough: China now has around 60 operational
submarines, up from less than 50 in 1993. More to the point, Beijing has a number of reasons to use its new vessels – not least in its alleged aim of conquering Taiwan by 2027, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army. And though China is probably the US’s most serious strategic threat, the Virginia-class also face powerful rivals elsewhere. “The Russian Navy should not be forgotten,” emphasises Sutton. “They too are modernising and are fielding new submarines which are much closer to the US Navy quality. And Russia is building completely new categories of submarine, designed to carry the Poseidon nuclear weapon. These need to be countered.” Clark agrees, adding that Russia’s naval strength also lies in its geography. While the Chinese coastline is relatively accessible to would- be interlopers, it would be far harder for the US to secure air and naval supremacy in Russia’s isolated north. Given the country’s Arctic ports, notably Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, still serve as major military hubs, Clark hints the US will need to develop a submarine that can disrupt operations there – even if help from the air force or surface navy weren’t forthcoming.
Sub-optimal
Read the press releases and the SSN(X) certainly seems ferocious. Enjoying an initial yearly research budget of $98m, it promises to “counter the emerging threat posed by near peer adversary competition for undersea supremacy”. And though US Navy officials are reluctant to comment at this early stage – the first SSN(X) is only expected to slip its moorings in 2031 – what they are willing to admit still sounds impressive. “The SSN(X) baseline design is expected to capitalise on the acoustic and sensor performance, operational availability, and speed and payload capacities of Virginia, Columbia, and Seawolf-class submarines,” explains Rear Admiral Douglas Perry, director of Undersea Warfare Division, N97, at the Naval Operations, US Navy. “It is expected to retain multi-mission capability and sustained combat presence.” Beyond the military jargon, however, getting to grips with the SSN(X) is rather tougher. As Clark notes, that’s to be expected: the US Navy likely hasn’t decided on a final design itself. All the same, speak to the experts and the broad outlines of the new vessel do become sharper. With its focus on payload and speed, Sutton says the SSN(X) is likely to “excel” at submarine warfare. Clark makes a similar point. Given their role as submarine hunters, he suggests the new vessels will be armed with extra room for torpedoes. That could also be complemented by hypersonic missiles. Trialled by the navy in 2020, their remarkable speed (over five times the speed of sound) would theoretically allow the SSN(X) to hit
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton / US Navy
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