by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Navy’s first next-generation high-tech new Columbia=class submarine will arrive in 2028 as the service works intensely to build its first two nuclear-armed boats. Intended to quietly and secretly lurk in dark corners of the ocean in position to launch a catastrophic “second-strike” retaliation in the event the US comes under nuclear attack, the new Columbia-class submarines will introduce a new generation of undersea technology.
The submarines could not start arriving too soon, as the existing Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines have already lived decades beyond their intended service life – and securing the undersea portion of the nuclear triad with Columbia submarines has long been deemed the Pentagon’s top acquisition priority.
The Navy’s most recent budget request asks for $6.1 billion for research, development and procurement for the Columbia class for 2024, and the first two hulls are well along in the process of being built.
The request would procure “the second Columbia-class submarine, our nation’s most survivable leg of the strategic triad, and [keep] us on track for the delivery of the first vessel in” 2028, Erik Raven, undersecretary of the Navy, said in a March 13 congressional briefing as quoted in an essay from Arms Control Today.
The first Columbia-class patrols are slated for the early 2030s as part of a new era in undersea strategic deterrence intended to function well into the 2080s and beyond. A
As mentioned in the essay by Under-Secretary Raven, the second Columbia-class submarine is also well underway in the construction process. Modules, as they are called, continue to take shape at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Ct., and much of the initial production and science and technology work began more than 10 years ago. As far back as 2014 and before, the Navy was working on what’s called “tube and hull forging” to weld missile tubes into 4-pack units to integrate into emerging ship modules.
The technologies for the boat also go back many years and have been designed to be a work in progress, meaning they are being engineered with technical standards such that new innovations can quickly and easily be integrated. Interestingly, the Columbia-class submarines are described by developers as perhaps destined to be the quietest and most lethal submarine ever to exist. While much of the technology of the boats is not available for security reasons, the boat is engineered with an electric drive propulsion system able to both power up the boat with additional electricity but also greatly reduce the submarine’s acoustic signature. Being stealthier than any submarine ever to exist would be a critical advantage for nuclear armed submarines as their tactical advantage depends upon “not” being detected. A quieter submarine emitting a smaller or less detectable undersea acoustic signature would of course be much less likely to give away its position of strategic advantage. The new Columbia-class submarines are also being built with a new “X” shaped stern designed to improve undersea maneuverability while generating a smaller or less detectable “signature.”
Columbia-class “Electric Drive”
In today’s Ohio-class submarines, a reactor plant generates heat which creates steam, Navy officials explained. The steam then turns the turbines that produce the sub’s electricity and also propels the ship forward. This propulsion is achieved through “reduction gears” which are able to translate the high-speed energy from a turbine into the shaft RPMs needed to move a boat propeller.
“The electric-drive system is expected to be quieter (i.e., stealthier) than a mechanical-drive system,” a Congressional Research Service report on Columbia-Class submarines from several years ago states.
The Columbia-class submarines are designed to be 560-feet long and house sixteen Trident II D5 missiles fired from 44-foot-long missile tubes.
The “X”-shaped stern will restore maneuverability to submarines; as submarine designs progressed from using a propeller to using a propulsor to improve quieting, submarines lost some surface maneuverability, Navy officials explained.
Navy developers explain that electric-drive propulsion technology still relies on a nuclear reactor to generate heat and create steam to power turbines. However, the electricity produced is transferred to an electric motor rather than so-called reduction gears to spin the boat’s propellers.
The use of an electric motor brings other advantages as well, according to an MIT essay written years ago when the electric drive was being evaluated for submarine propulsion.
Should one Columbia-class submarine be detected, giving a potential adversary the possible thought that they might be able to stop, neutralize or prevent any US Navy second-strike retaliatory option, the Navy plans for built in redundancy with a fleet of 12 Columbia-class submarines simultaneously positioned in critical parts of the undersea in position to strike. The presence of multiple Columbia-class patrols at one time can ensure a second-strke retaliatory attack capability even if one is found, disabled or destroyed by an adversary in advance of a nuclear attack. There are currently 14 Ohio-class submarines, yet the Columbia-class will only consist of 12 boats, in large measure because they are being built with a cutting-edge “life-of-core” nuclear reactor, meaning they won’t have to spend time away from service out of the water in dry dock for mid-life refueling half way through their service life. A fleet of 12 Columbia-class submarines can accomplish much more undersea strategic-deterrence “presence” and deployment times can be extended.
Also, Columbia-class submarines are being built with several cutting edge technological innovations built into the US Navy’s new generation of Virginia-class attack submarines. Block III and beyond US-Navy Virginia-class attack submarines are built with a next-generation “fiber-optic” visual sensor cable which enables commanders and ship navigators to see a “periscope” view from anywhere in the boat. The new nuclear-armed submarines are also being engineered with a “fly-by-wire” computerized navigational system which replaces previous hydraulic mechanical systems. Using computer automation, depth and speed can be analyzed and set to a certain extent semi-autonomously while managed by a human decision-maker and maneuvering can be managed with a digital “joystick” type of navigation system.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
