USS Mississippi (SSN-782) conducts alpha trials in the Atlantic Ocean in 2012. US Navy Photo
U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded a $17.8 billion contract for ten Block IV Virginia-class attack submarines (SSN-774) to prime contractor General Dynamic Electric Boat in the largest single shipbuilding contract in the service’s history, NAVSEA said on Monday in a late afternoon statement. Read More
Triomphant-class submarine. French Navy Photo
The French Navy plans to lift restrictions to allow women sailors to crew the service’s Triomphant-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a Tuesday speech in Paris. Read More
The following is a slide presentation from the Naval Sea Systems Command April 8, 2014 briefing on the progress of the Ohio-class Replacement Program for the Navy’s next-generation nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). Read More
An undated artist’s rendering of the Ohio Replacement. Naval Sea Systems Command Image
The Navy has completed the specifications and has set the length for its next generation nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the head of the Navy’s submarine construction program told attendees at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition 2014 at National Harbor, Md. on Monday. Read More
North Dakota (SSN 784) sits moored at the graving dock of General Dynamics Electric Boat prior to its christening ceremony in Groton, Conn. on Nov. 2, 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy has christened the service’s eleventh Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine in a Saturday ceremony in Groton, Conn., according to the service. Read More
![Document: CRS Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program Report](https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screen-Shot-2013-10-28-at-10.19.45-AM-660x223.png)
The following is from the Oct. 22, 2013 report, Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress from the Congressional Research Service.
The Navy’s proposed FY2014 budget requests $1,083.7 million for continued research and development work on the Ohio replacement program (ORP), a program to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 Ohio- class SSBNs. The Ohio replacement program is also known as the SSBN(X) program. On September 18, 2013, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, testified that the Ohio replacement program “is the top priority program for the Navy.” Read More
An undated artist’s rendering of the Ohio Replacement. Naval Sea Systems Command
Navy officials said it was time to “draw the line” to prevent any further delay in the service’s bid to procure a replacement to its ballistic nuclear missile submarine fleet (SSBN) in comments to reporters following a Thursday hearing before the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.
U.S. made parts in this Virginia-class submarine could be replaced by foreign components.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert has long warned of a decline in U.S. companies that provide critical components to the nation’s most technologically sophisticated hardware: nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.
“I worry about the industrial base,” Greenert said at the Credit Suisse/McAllese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 12. “Ninety percent of the industry that builds our nuclear components is single source. . . . It’s the second or third tier. It’s ‘Bob’s Nuclear Valve Shop.’” Read More
Artists concept of the Ohio Replacement ballistic nuclear missile submarine. US Navy Photo
The Ohio Class Replacement nuclear ballistic submarine (SSBN) program will not be delayed due to Navy budget cuts from mandated sequestration budget cuts, program manager Capt. Bill Brougham said Tuesday at a briefing at Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition 2013 at National Harbor, Md. Read More
The following is an excerpt from a January interview with Sean Stackley on shipbuilding, which will appear in the February 2013 issue of Proceedings.
The U.S. Navy has released few details of its planned Ohio-class replacement program. The class of 12 nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) will replace the 14 Ohio-class SSBNs currently on patrol starting in the early 2030s and continue in service into the 2080s. The boat is among the most expensive Navy shipbuilding programs and has been part of a larger Pentagon drive to reduce cost by scaling down the capability of the boat.
The reductions scale back from the initial Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) for the program, then dubbed SSBN(X), conducted by NAVSEA in 2009. The initial AoA called for a boat that would have cost $6 to $7 billion but with the reduction in capability the Ohio Replacement (OR) drove costs down to $5.6 billion a copy. The scope of reductions from the AoA is unclear as the Navy never publically disclosed the initial capability goals of the program. The eventual goal of the reductions is to produce the boats at $4.9 billion each.
