by Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven
The Tomahawk cruise missile firepower arming the US Navy’s soon to retire SSGN guided missile submarines is nothing short of massive, as each boat is capable of traveling with as many as 154 Tomahawks. The US Navy has been quite conscious of the upcoming retirement of all four of these super-armed SSGNs, a key reason why the service has worked with HII and General Dynamics Electric Boat aggressively to ensure the Virginia-class attack submarine Block V Virginia Payload Modules arrive quickly and successfully.
In development for many years, the VPM effort adds as many as 28 Tomahawk missiles to the Virginia-class submarines, increasing payload capacity for the boats from 12 Tomahawks up to 40. Block V VPM Virginia-class boats are now being built as part of a deliberate, high-speed, high-priority effort to replace retiring firepower. The intent is to usher in a new fleet of heavily armed Block V Virginias to help compensate for the large firepower deficit expected to emerge when SSGNs retire.
SSGNs & 616 Tomahawks
The SSGNs are the USS Ohio, USS Georgia, USS Michigan and USS Florida, heavily armed boats slated to retire from 2026 to 2028. Overall, the US Navy’s Ohio-class submarines have already operated years beyond their intended service life, and the retirement of four large submarines capable of firing 154 Tomahawks each retires a massive amount of collective firepower. In total, the SSGNs account for the ability of the US Navy to fire 616 Tomahawk missiles, an amount of firepower Virginia-class Block Vs will have trouble matching. The Navy has ordered 10 Block V Virginia-class submarines, a number which will generate 400 Tomahawks given that each boat can carry 40.
There is an interesting dynamic at play with this scenario, because while there have been tremendous breakthroughs in the realm of range, data networking and precision targeting with Tomahawks, there will still likely be a need for “mass” firepower in the event of great power conflict. Perhaps enemy air defenses can be targeted from the ocean or battlefield surveillance identifies weapons storage facilities or force concentration targets which can best be attacked by Tomahawks.
Time Gap?
As new Block V Virginia submarines arrive to prepare for the departure of the SSGNs, there is a question of timing or a potential capability gap. Can the US Navy build Virginia-class submarines fast enough to avoid a firepower capability deficit beginning in 2026. For many years now, Congress has been working with the Navy to accelerate the pace of production of Virginia-class submarines especially as Columbia-class submarines begin to arrive. The Navy has been hoping to increase the number of Virginia boats it produces to two a year by 2028, a goal which has been difficult and somewhat elusive for the Navy and its Congressional allies due to budget and industrial base challenges.
Tomahawks Attack Libya
The SSGNs, for example, were used with great success in the Gulf War and in Libya in 2011 where as many as 100 Tomahawks were fired from the USS Florida. As much as technology has changed the Tomahawk and introduced new concepts of operation, there is still great relevance in the seemingly timeless “mass matters” principle of war suggesting that there may at times be a need for massive, widespanning cruise missile attack from the ocean.
Current Block IV Tomahawk missiles operate with a two-way datalink, ability to “loiter” over targets and conduct ISR and attack with several different kinds of warheads; they can travel up to 900 miles at speeds up to 550mph and have often been the first weapons used in military campaigns. Historically, Tomahwaks have been used to destroy “fixed” targets such as enemy bunkers, storage facilities, command and control targets, troop locations or weapons, yet more recent technological advances have enabled the weapons to hit moving targets. Beyond Block IV weapons, the Navy is also now operating Tactical Maritime Tomahawks with greater throughput and guidance technology enabling them to maneuver in flight to destroy moving targets such as ships at sea.
Special Ops Transport
Beyond sheer firepower, there is another key SSGN capability the US Navy is working to sustain after the SSGNs retire.….the ability to launch clandestine Special Operations Forces missions such as undersea reconnaissance, surprise coastal attacks or hostage rescue. The SSGNs were large and specifically configured to support Special Ops, an operational capability the US Navy also seeks to preserve with the Virginia-class submarines. Beginning years ago with the arrival of Block III Virginia-class submarines, the US Navy built a special “lock-out-trunk” into the body of the submarine. It was an area which would fill up with water underneath the hull and then open up to enable special operators to exit without having to surface.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in 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