Columbia class

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Graphic of a Columbia missile submarine

The Columbia-class is an emerging class of nuclear-powered missile submarines for the US Navy . You should as a carrier of the intercontinental ballistic missile II D5 Trident the Ohio class replace from the 2030th The Columbia-class is the first generation of missile submarines developed by the US Navy after the end of the Cold War .

The Columbia class was originally under development under the names "SSBN-X", "Ohio Replacement Program" and "Future Follow-on Submarine".

development

After the end of the Cold War, the importance of nuclear deterrence fell massively, which also led to a decrease in the need for ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), which previously played a key role in the planning of both power blocs. At the same time, the US Navy was cut numerous funds, which u. a. led to the fact that only 3 instead of the originally planned 29 units of the Seawolf class submarines were built. From this situation, the decision was made to decommission the 31 Lafayette-class missile submarines before the end of their actual service life. This was then implemented until 1995, so that only the 18 Ohio-class submarines were available for nuclear deterrence. The number was later reduced to 14 after four Ohio's were converted to cruise missile carriers (SSGN). Since the Ohios were in good condition, the US Navy evaluated in numerous studies to extend the life of the Ohios and finally came to the conclusion that they could be left in service until the end of the 2020s. So there was initially no need for a new development of SSBNs.

In 2010, the US Congress released funds for the first time to develop a successor to the Ohio class (SSBN-X). In the meantime, other nations had already developed new missile submarines, such as the Russian Navy with the Borei-class . The US Navy announced a need for 12 submarines. In terms of costs, construction costs of the first submarine were expected to amount to 6.9 billion US dollars, as well as an additional 4.2 billion US dollars in development costs. The construction costs for the remaining submarines are then to be reduced to US $ 4.9 billion each.

In April 2014, the US Navy then finalized the specifications for the SSBN-X. It was determined that the SSBN-X should share as many components as possible with the Virginia class (Block III) in order to reduce development and operating costs. At the same time, the SSBN-X should only carry 16 instead of 24 Trident rockets with similar dimensions as the Ohio class. A key point of the requirements is the "life-of-the-ship" nuclear reactor , i. This means that, contrary to the previous models, it does not need an overhaul during the expected service life of 42 years. In addition, the SSBN-X should have an integrated electric drive and the control surfaces should be designed in an X-shape.

Technical specifications Ohio class Columbia class
length 170 m 171 m
diameter 12.8 m 13.1 m
displacement 18,740 ts 20,810 ts
Missile silos 24 16

In March 2016, the US Navy announced that Electric Boat had been contracted by General Dynamics to develop and build the SSBN-X. These were already responsible for the Virginia and Ohio classes. On December 14, 2016, Navy Secretary of State Ray Mabus announced that the first ship in the class would be the USS Columbia (SSBN-826).

Web links

Commons : Columbia- class  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ohio-class replacement details. USNI News, February 5, 2013, accessed August 9, 2017 .
  2. ^ SECNAV Mabus to Officially Designate First ORP Boat USS Columbia (SSBN-826). USNI News, December 13, 2016, accessed August 9, 2017 .