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US launches 'most advanced' stealth sub
US launches 'most advanced' stealth sub amid undersea rivalry
Story highlights
- For years, the US has maintained a technological edge over the submarines developed by rival nations
- Virginia-class submarines currently cost roughly $2.7 billion each
Washington (CNN)Touted
as the world's most technologically advanced fast attack submarine, the
USS South Dakota is set to join the US Navy fleet amid a growing threat
to American undersea dominance from several foreign rivals.
Operating
beneath the ocean's surface, a submarine's strategic value is often
tied directly to its ability to navigate in or near enemy waters without
being detected to conduct reconnaissance or attack missions.
For
years, the United States has maintained a technological edge over the
submarines developed by rival nations, but recent advances made by
Russia and China have sparked concerns of an emerging threat to American
undersea superiority.
Christened earlier this month,
the nuclear-powered USS South Dakota marks the US Navy's latest effort
to maintain that edge and provides a technological blueprint for future
development.
Virginia-class submarines currently cost roughly $2.7 billion each.
The
Navy's 70-boat submarine fleet is made up of three major types of
boats: ballistic-missile submarines, attack submarines, and
cruise-missile submarines.
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Seawolf-class attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter is moored in a
Washington state facility that reduces a ship's electromagnetic
signature in 2006. The Jimmy Carter is 100 feet longer than the first
two subs in its class. The extra space is for a "multimission platform,"
the Navy says. "This hull section provides for additional payloads to
accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research
and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities."
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
U.S. Navy has more than a dozen ballistic missile submarines, also
called boomers, in service. The boomers, 560 feet long, can carry 24
nuclear-armed Trident II ballistic missiles and serve as nuclear
deterrents. Here, the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS West
Virginia departs a naval shipyard in 2013.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio transits Puget Sound,
Washington, in June 2015. The Ohio and three other guided-missile subs
-- USS Florida, USS Michigan and USS Georgia -- were originally built
and deployed as ballistic-missile subs, but were converted to
guided-missile platforms beginning in 2002 after the Navy concluded it
had a surplus of the boomers.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Hampton surfaces through Arctic
ice in March 2014. The Los Angeles-class is the biggest in the Navy's
sub fleet, with a few dozen in commission. These subs displace 6,900
tons and are 360 feet long. The class was introduced in 1976.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
USS Michigan, an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, arrives in Busan,
South Korea, for a routine port visit in December 2010. Click through
the gallery to see some of the other subs in the U.S. Navy's fleet.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
A
dolphin swims in front of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS John
Warner during its sea trials in May 2015. Virginia-class subs,
displacing 7,800 tons and at 377 feet long, "are designed to seek and
destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with
Tomahawk cruise missiles and special operation forces (SOF); carry out
inntelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions; support
battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare," according to the
Navy.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) departs
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay to conduct routine operations in October
2015.
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
USS Seawolf, shown here in support of European operations in June 2015,
is the lead vessel in the three-boat Seawolf class. The Seawolf and the
USS Connecticut, the second boat in the class, displace 9,138 tons and
are 353 feet long. Click to the next slide to learn more about the third
sub in the class, the USS Jimmy Carter.
Hide Caption
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Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Seawolf-class attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter is moored in a
Washington state facility that reduces a ship's electromagnetic
signature in 2006. The Jimmy Carter is 100 feet longer than the first
two subs in its class. The extra space is for a "multimission platform,"
the Navy says. "This hull section provides for additional payloads to
accommodate advanced technology used to carry out classified research
and development and for enhanced warfighting capabilities."
Hide Caption
5 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
U.S. Navy has more than a dozen ballistic missile submarines, also
called boomers, in service. The boomers, 560 feet long, can carry 24
nuclear-armed Trident II ballistic missiles and serve as nuclear
deterrents. Here, the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS West
Virginia departs a naval shipyard in 2013.
Hide Caption
6 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio transits Puget Sound,
Washington, in June 2015. The Ohio and three other guided-missile subs
-- USS Florida, USS Michigan and USS Georgia -- were originally built
and deployed as ballistic-missile subs, but were converted to
guided-missile platforms beginning in 2002 after the Navy concluded it
had a surplus of the boomers.
Hide Caption
7 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Hampton surfaces through Arctic
ice in March 2014. The Los Angeles-class is the biggest in the Navy's
sub fleet, with a few dozen in commission. These subs displace 6,900
tons and are 360 feet long. The class was introduced in 1976.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
USS Michigan, an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, arrives in Busan,
South Korea, for a routine port visit in December 2010. Click through
the gallery to see some of the other subs in the U.S. Navy's fleet.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
A
dolphin swims in front of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS John
Warner during its sea trials in May 2015. Virginia-class subs,
displacing 7,800 tons and at 377 feet long, "are designed to seek and
destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with
Tomahawk cruise missiles and special operation forces (SOF); carry out
inntelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions; support
battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare," according to the
Navy.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) departs
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay to conduct routine operations in October
2015.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
Photos: U.S. Navy's submarine fleet
The
USS Seawolf, shown here in support of European operations in June 2015,
is the lead vessel in the three-boat Seawolf class. The Seawolf and the
USS Connecticut, the second boat in the class, displace 9,138 tons and
are 353 feet long. Click to the next slide to learn more about the third
sub in the class, the USS Jimmy Carter.
Hide Caption
4 of 8
The
Navy currently fields 17 Virginia-class fast attack submarines, which
are built to operate in the world's littoral and deep waters.
Virginia-class
submarines can launch torpedoes at other submarines and at ships. They
can also launch missiles at ground targets, gather intelligence, and
deploy Navy SEAL units for special operations.
"Their
inherent stealth, endurance, mobility and firepower directly enable
them to support five of the six maritime strategy core capabilities --
sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and
deterrence," the Navy said.
Incorporating
"acoustic superiority" that is expected to provide unparalleled stealth
capability, the USS South Dakota will be used as a "demonstrator to
prove out advanced technologies," according to Navy spokesperson Lt.
Seth Clarke.
Lessons learned from
South Dakota will be incorporated into later Virginia-class submarines
-- "increasing our undersea domain advantage, ensuring our dominance
through the midcentury and beyond," Clarke said.
The nuclear-powered USS South Dakota marks the US Navy's latest effort to maintain undersea superiority.
"Stealth
capability is one of the crucial advantages of submarines ... the
Virginia-class brings capability and capacity that is so crucial as we
head into potential peer conflict down the road." according to Randy
Forbes, a former US representative who served as chairman of the
Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services
Committee while in Congress.
The 360-foot USS South Dakota is scheduled to officially enter the fleet in August 2018.
The Navy plans to upgrade its Virginia-class boats while developing the next-generation, nuclear-armed Columbia-class.
One
of those upgrades includes outfitting Virginia-class submarines with
additional "Virginia Payload Modules" for Tomahawk or next-generation
missiles to provide more strike capacity.
Most
Virginia-class submarines currently feature two Virginia Payload Tubes,
each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to
the Navy.
Expected to be
operational by 2024 or 2025, that added firepower will help fill the gap
as the Navy plans to retire several of its aging fast-attack and
ballistic-missile submarines in coming years, according to Jerry
Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and senior fellow at the Center for a
New American Security.
Brewing submarine rivalry
Forbes
said the United States has traditionally been able to track foreign
submarines but recent advancements made by the Chinese and Russians
highlight the need for developments like those seen on the USS South
Dakota to maintain American undersea dominance.
Russia
has invested heavily in developing its own underwater stealth
capabilities in recent years and their submarine technology is
approaching the level of the US fleet, much like the peer-to-peer
comparison seen during the Cold War, according to one congressional aide
familiar with the issue.
While
the Russian military is not necessarily building a large quantity of
submarines, it is developing boats with advanced quieting capabilities
that are "very competitive" with those in the US fleet, said Hendrix.
"Russia
is modernizing its existing fleet of Oscar-class multipurpose attack
nuclear submarines and producing their next generation Severodvinsk
Yasen-class," US Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this year.
"The Russians are making a leverage investment ... with submarines you don't have to build a lot of them," according to Hendrix.
The United States has also recently noticed an uptick in Russian submarine activity -- conducting "spurts" of heavy patrols across various regions, according to the aide and a US Navy official.
"They
can't maintain the presence we do with 24/7 operations, but this
activity is meant to push the boundary and to see what the US reaction
will be," the aide said.
But while
the United States continues to monitor foreign submarine activity, the
increase in Russian patrols is widely viewed as presence and testing
maneuvers that do not pose an immediate military threat.
It's something the United States should be reacting to but not overreacting to, the congressional aide told CNN.
In
2016, US Navy commanders told CNN that Russian submarines had become
increasing assertive in the Atlantic Ocean and that their undersea
activity was reaching levels unseen for decades.
The
commander of the USS Missouri submarine, Fraser Hudson, assessed at the
time that the renewed Russian activity is not just "a political
statement but the Russians are seeking to gain experience in case
hostilities were ever to break out between it and the United States.
"Honestly,
I think it's operational experience. You maintain the experience in
those (areas of responsibility) so that if anything were ever to happen,
they have experience," he said last year.
A Russian sub also turned up off the coast of Florida in 2012, and the USS Missouri was called on to track it.
In
addition to flexing their military muscle in an attempt to show "they
still are or want to be a dominant super power," the Russians are also
trying to test whether their submarines can travel for long periods
without being detected, according to the aide.
"The
Russians are probably at about 80% of the capacity they were at during
the Cold War," according to Forbes, who also noted that they are
constantly pushing the envelope in terms of capability.
China, on the other hand, is opting for a quantity over quality approach when it comes to building up its own submarine fleet.
"The
Chinese are not as advanced but are getting there and they are
producing diesel submarines in numbers," the congressional aide told
CNN. "In the end, numbers are a capability in themselves."
Hendrix
also noted that there is no indication the submarines being developed
by China are close to being as advanced as those in the US arsenal but
warned their approach of producing a large number of boats does pose a
threat.
"Quantity can have a quality," Hendrix said.
In
addition to adding to the size of its submarine fleet, Harris warned
earlier this year that they are also advancing their undersea
capability.
Navy sub emerges from under Arctic ice 00:55
"China
is improving the lethality and survivability of its attack submarines
and building quieter, high-end diesel and nuclear-powered submarines,"
he said.
Both China and Russia have
also increased their presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, where
Harris said 230 of the world's 400 foreign submarines are operating.
Roughly 160 of those 230 submarines belong to China, North Korea, and Russia, according to Harris.
Forbes
said the United States must also develop a strategy to counter Chinese
and Russian activity in "gray zones" where they are incrementally
expanding their presence by strategically "fighting and competing"
through military posturing.
China's
claims in the South China Sea represent one glaring example as to how
they've been able to successfully implement this type of strategy in a
way that allows them to expand their military reach without engaging in
direct confrontation, according to Forbes.
Forbes
also explained that the United States has yet to develop a coherent
strategy to counter Russian and Chinese gray zone activity -- a
challenge that will require both the Navy and Congress to reconsider the
way it utilizes American sea power.
"Major
strategy is not some secret play you pull out in the fourth quarter of a
football game," Forbes said, adding that if US military leaders don't
articulate a strategy to Congress there is no way a plan will be
implemented.
Emerging challenges
By
most accounts, the United States still maintains the most capable
submarine fleet in the world, but while the addition of the USS South
Dakota represents a leap forward in technological advancement, some
argue the Navy still faces challenges.
Despite
President Donald Trump's request for additional defense spending, years
of budget cuts and continuing resolutions have had a severe impact on
the Navy's maintenance and shipbuilding efforts.
The
Navy plans to build 30 Virginia-class submarines and replace its 14
aging Ohio-class boats with 12 Columbia-class submarines, the first of
which is expected in fiscal year 2021.
In March 2016, the Government Accountability Office
reported that total program acquisition costs will be about $97
billion, including $12 billion for research and development and $85.1
billion for procurement.
There are also discussions about extending deployments and service lives for existing submarines to help make up the difference.
But
even if the Navy is able to achieve its goal of producing two or three
new fast-attack boats per year, the service will only have 41 attack
submarines by 2029, according to the Navy's FY17 30-year plan.
An
attack submarine inventory of 41 boats falls well short of the 65 to 70
boats needed to effectively maintain undersea dominance, according to
Hendrix.
Harris
told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this year that he
agrees with assessments indicating a need for 66 fast attack submarines.
The
need to continuously upgrade submarine stealth capabilities also
presents a challenge for the Navy, according to Forbes, who said there
comes a time when the cost for another decibel of quietness becomes too
expensive.
Increased costs and the
development of new detection techniques that do not rely on the sound a
submarine makes could change the way the US Navy thinks about undersea
warfare, according to Forbes.
"If
we can't make up the numbers we will have to move to a different way of
fighting," Forbes said, adding that the current strategic mindset
revolves around "one-on-one" submarine combat.
"In
the future, submarines may have to fight more like an aircraft
carrier," he said, describing a system in which submarines are
complemented by a variety of unmanned platforms.
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