Navy Pursues Future SSN (X) Attack Submarine for 2030s

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Quietly conducting clandestine reconnaissance missions close to enemy shorelines, launching small groups of Special Operations Forces undersea attack units and controlling undersea drones to probe and target the boundaries of an enemy perimeter and surface force …. Are all likely critical missions expected of the new in development US Navy SSN (X) future attack submarines. While the technological advances now being built into Block V Virginia-class attack submarines might seem difficult to exceed, the Navy is amid early conceptual work and experimentation on a series of possibilities for a new generation of attack submarines to emerge in the 2030s. 

Attack Submarines

There are not many available details regarding what this submarine might look like, however several industry developers have suggested it may wind up being much larger than the existing Virginia-class boats. Several years ago, an interesting report from USNI cited expert industry developers saying that there may be certain acoustic or quieting advantages associated with a wider submarine hull, as it would allow “ship designers to build in more sound-deadening technology” and increase the boat’s speed. 

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The industry official cited in the USNI report suggested that the new SSN(X) could wind up being as large as a Columbia-class boat. This means the new submarine will potentially travel with a much heavier arsenal of firepower such as Tomahawk cruise missiles or torpedoes and also, perhaps of even greater significance, be able to transport larger groups of SOF forces and launch many more drones. 

New undersea drones are increasingly able to take off undersea from submarine missile tubes, enable new mission possibilities to counter mines, find enemy surface ships and submarines or simply conduct secret reconnaissance missions in high-threat areas. This would make sense, because although the Virginia-class Block V boats are loaded up with as many as 40 Tomahawk missiles for expanded firepower, they are also increasingly capable of undersea ISR missions due in large measure to advances in undersea “quieting” technologies. In fact it would seem likely that a new SSN(X) submarine would incorporate new generations of quieting technologies by perhaps building upon those now being built into Virginia-class submarines.

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