By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Hypersonic attack, undersea launched and recovered drones, massive fire power, subsurface data networking and clandestine seabed warfare maneuvers .. are all key operational areas intended for the US Navy’s Block VI Virginia-class submarine.
Such a concept invites a swirl of unanswered questions and suggests new areas of development and innovation in the realm of undersea warfare. How might a Block VI build upon and improve the already high-tech, now-under construction Virginia-class Block V?
While the Block V is indeed quite advanced with large aperture bow sonar, fly-by-wire navigation, fiber-optic cables, new weapons and a massive increase in firepower, there do appear to be a few areas where a Block VI might advance the curve of possibility.
Block V Virginia’s are built with a first of its kind Virginia-Payload Module, a new 80-ft section built into the submarine to enable the boat to carry 28 additional Tomahawk missiles, raising the number from 12-to-40. This is particularly critical given the expected retirement of the Navy’s four SSGN Guided Missile submarines capable of delivering massive amounts of firepower.
Block V Virginias can also launch some unmanned systems from its missile tubes, yet a Block VI is likely to further optimize this capability given the US Navy’s large scale Unmanned Undersea Vehicle acquisition and developmental efforts. An increased ability to launch and recover mine-clearing, enemy sub-hunting drones could prove paradigm changing in the realm of undersea communication, reconnaissance and targeting. The new Block VI submarines are being built by General Dynamics Electric Boat, an industry powerhouse which delivered what’s called “long lead” items for Block VI in August of 2024.
The Block VI, therefore, is likely to be configurable and able to adjust to accommodate different sets of missions such as tailored “seabed” operations, undersea surveillance and surprise attack or ambush missions. Should Block VI receive special new innovations to conduct “seabed” warfare, it might be able to navigate in much deeper water along the contours of the ocean floor. Such an ability would of course increase stealth and therefore improve any ability to conduct clandestine missions. Sure enough, an interesting essay from SeaPower magazine quotes Rear. Adm. David Goggins, Program Executive Officer for Submarines, said Block VI will incorporate new seabed warfare capabilities
“The key thing here is to really enable that organic subsea, seabed warfare capability for the first time,” Goggins said in SeaPower magazine.
Conversely, a Block VI could be tailored to launch a massive precision land attack from hundreds of miles off shore with guided Tomahawk missiles or linger near the surface to optimize air-sea-ground networking.
The largest areas of difference with Block VI may reside in special innovations designed to support undersea drone missions and sub-surface networking. These two areas of emerging force compliment one another, as there are increasing methods of technologies enabling “wireless” undersea connectivity and new concepts for enabling undersea “real-time” data exchange.
Typically, undersea drones need to gather information and “return” to a host ship to download its gathered information, however undersea warfare innovators are now increasingly exploring real-time undersea data exchange. This has for years been an area of great challenge given that both GPS and high-frequency RF are not possible underwater.
Now, however, several new things are happening; the US Navy is using strong fiber optic cable to connect undersea submarine to drones able to travel to the surface and interface with surface gateway technologies in position to essentially “translate” acoustic data gathered by submarines beneath the surface into RF signals and other kinds of data links able to share information with air, surface and land communications nodes.
This enables the possibility of a submarine to use its long-range, high-fidelity acoustic sensors to gather sensitive threat information and network it to a drone in position to surface and interface with gateway systems in real time, sending time-sensitive threat data to surface ships, aircraft and land centers.
Gateways often vary in a number of ways depending upon the transport layer technologies and domain, however they typically use advanced computer technology and IP protocol to gather incoming data, organize it and move or transition the information from one medium to another.
Yet another area of focus pertains to the use of undersea wireless networking conducted by submerged drones. One arriving drone in particular, is called “Barracuda” by Raytheon, and it is capable of using undersea wireless communications technology to identify, confirm and explode undersea mines. Once the Barracuda verifies that a given object is, in fact, a mine, it can autonomously detonate in close proximity to destroy it.
Finally, the area perhaps of greatest significance relates to the expected arrival of hypersonic weapons, as the Navy intends to arm its submarines with the Conventional Prompt Strike weapon before 2028. The arrival of undersea-launched hypersonics introduces a paradigm-changing, high-speed attack advantage.
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and 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.
