Tag Archives: ssbn

Submarine Industrial Base Under Strain as Virginia-Class Parts Wearing Out Early; Implications For Columbia-Class

Submarine Industrial Base Under Strain as Virginia-Class Parts Wearing Out Early; Implications For Columbia-Class

Virginia-class submarine USS Vermont (SSN-792) as she returns home to Submarine Base New London on Thursday, on Dec. 24, 2020. US Navy Photo

Some parts on Virginia-class attack boats are wearing out faster than the Navy anticipated 20 years ago, and buying replacement parts is further straining a nuclear submarine industrial base that’s already juggling an expansion of construction of new hulls and maintaining the current fleet.

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Navy May Extend Life of Ohio SSBNs to Provide Cushion for Introduction of Columbia-class

Navy May Extend Life of Ohio SSBNs to Provide Cushion for Introduction of Columbia-class

Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) on Oct. 21, 2020. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated to correct that the future USS Columbia is planned to go on its first deployment in the fall of 2030, or the beginning of Fiscal Year 2031.

The Navy is looking at extending the lives of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines again – beyond the now 42-year planned life for the SSBNs – to add a little more capability for combatant commanders and a little more cushion in case of delays fielding their replacement. Read More

Sub Base Kings Bay Keeping Current Ohio Subs Ready, Prepping for Incoming Columbia Class

Sub Base Kings Bay Keeping Current Ohio Subs Ready, Prepping for Incoming Columbia Class

The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Alaska (SSBN 732) blue crew returns to its homeport at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, in November 2018, following a strategic deterrence patrol. The boat is one of five ballistic-missile submarines stationed at the base and is capable of carrying up to 20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.

ABOARD BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE USS ALASKA, AT NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE KINGS BAY, Ga. – The East Coast’s ballistic missile submarine hub is busy keeping up the readiness of its legacy Ohio-class boomers while also laying the groundwork to welcome the new Columbia class later in the decade. Read More

NAVSEA Says Attack Sub Repairs Much Improved as USS Boise Enters Yard Following 4-Year Wait

NAVSEA Says Attack Sub Repairs Much Improved as USS Boise Enters Yard Following 4-Year Wait

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Boise (SSN 764) enters Souda Bay, Greece, during a scheduled port visit on Dec. 23, 2014. Boise conducted naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe during its last deployment that ended in January 2015 — and the submarine has been awaiting a maintenance availability ever since, due to limited capacity in public and private yards. US Navy photo.

After years of struggling to conduct attack submarine maintenance – with the four public naval shipyards prioritizing SSN work last, behind a backlog of ballistic-missile sub and aircraft carrier work, and private shipyards finding it tough to resume submarine repair work after years of only doing new construction – the Navy appears back on track for its SSN maintenance, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News. Read More

Thornberry Uneasy With Pentagon Shipbuilding Plan, Supports Fully Funding Nuclear Triad

Thornberry Uneasy With Pentagon Shipbuilding Plan, Supports Fully Funding Nuclear Triad

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R=Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), center, speaks with Rear Adm. Michael E. Boyle, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea (CNFK) in 2018. US Navy Photo

The House Armed Services Committee’s top Republican has “heartburn” over the proposed shipbuilding budget for Fiscal Year 2021 but is also committed to fully funding the modernization of the nuclear triad and is acutely aware of a congressionally imposed topline for defense spending next year. Read More

Navy Beginning Tech Study to Extend Trident Nuclear Missile Into the 2080s

Navy Beginning Tech Study to Extend Trident Nuclear Missile Into the 2080s

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740) off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s Strategic Systems Program this fiscal year will begin looking at what new technologies it will need to develop to sustain and modernize its nuclear weapons so they can operate on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines through the 2080s. Read More

Electric Boat Preparing for Columbia-Class, But Supply Base Remains a Challenge

Electric Boat Preparing for Columbia-Class, But Supply Base Remains a Challenge

Attack boat Vermont (SSN-792) float-off on March 29, 2019. General Dynamics Electric Boats Photo

GROTON, Conn. – General Dynamics Electric Boat broke ground on a Columbia-class submarine assembly facility at its Groton yard on Friday, kicking off one of the final facilities improvement projects the company needs ahead of a massive increase in submarine construction work in the coming decades. Read More