8/23/2023 0 Comments Ohio class submarine blueprintsThe additional firepower provided by the module “is intended to compensate for a sharp loss in submarine force weapon-carrying capacity that will occur with the retirement in FY2026-FY2028 of the Navy’s four Ohio-class” guided missile submarines, or SSGNs, the Congressional Research Service report said. General Dynamics Electric Boat - the prime contractor for the Virginia class - awarded contracts in 2016 to BAE Systems and BWX Technologies for the production of the launch tubes, with BAE Systems winning additional production contracts in 20, per company press releases. Block 6 of the Virginia class is expected to include the VPM as well, a Navy spokesperson said in an email. The module is 84 feet long - bringing the total length of the Virginia-class subs up from 377 feet to 461 feet, the Navy file said - and can store and launch “payloads with diameters larger than the 21-inch diameter of a torpedo or Tomahawk missile,” a December Congressional Research Service report on Virginia-class sub procurement said. It also “reconstitutes the ability” of the Virginia class to hold dry deck shelters that can launch and recover special operations forces, “and allows the Navy to host additional advanced payloads via multiple ocean interfaces,” the file added. “Due to their location, each VPM payload tube is capable of carrying seven Tomahawk cruise missiles adding 28 missiles per” module, the Navy file said. The Navy maintained this design on the Block 4 ships, but starting with the Arizona - the second sub in Block 5 - the Navy introduced the Virginia Payload Module, or VPM, featuring four additional large diameter payload tubes, the fact file said. The added volume of the tubes provides more payload flexibility while simplifying construction and reducing acquisition costs, the file stated. The redesign included replacing the 12 vertical launch tubes with “two large diameter 87-inch Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles using Multiple All-up Round Canisters,” the file said. ![]() The first 10 Virginia-class subs - Block 1 and Block 2 of the class - feature 12 Vertical Launch System tubes for firing Tomahawk cruise missiles, a Navy fact file on attack submarines said.īeginning with Block 3, the Navy redesigned “approximately 20 percent of the ship” to reduce acquisition costs, the fact file said. The first ship in the class, the USS Virginia, was commissioned in 2004. “Building, operating and maintaining Arizona and other Virginia-class subs is crucial to ensuring the Navy’s ability to project power in an ever-shifting global threat environment, and to maintaining peace and the free operation of our sea lanes.” Jonathan Rucker, the Navy’s program executive officer for attack submarines, said in a press release. Their stealth, firepower and maneuverability are superior to every other attack submarine force in the world,” Rear Adm. “The boats in this class are the most advanced attack submarines ever designed. Once completed, the Arizona will be the first in its class to be equipped with the Virginia Payload Module, a new hull section that will enable the Arizona and subsequent Virginia-class ships to deliver a variety of capabilities such as weapons, vehicles and undersea payloads, according to the Navy. ![]() ![]() In December, senior Navy leaders, elected officials and industry representatives gathered at General Dynamics Electric Boat’s Quonset Point Facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, for the keel-laying ceremony for the USS Arizona, the 30th of the service’s Virginia-class fast attack submarines. The Navy is augmenting its attack submarine fleet by increasing its capacity to deploy weapons and other key payloads in a potential conflict.
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