This Invention Could Turn U.S. Nuclear Submarines into Quasi 'Aircraft Carriers'
What you need to know.
by TNI Staff
All this sounds great. However, back to that big “if†again—can this all be adapted into a truly usable surveillance, and ideally, strike platform? Could this be scaled up and used as a primary UUV weapons platform or will this stay as an extension of a UUV, only being launched from larger UUVs? How much range can this have—above and below the water? What would be the sensor and weapons loadout?
The mighty American nuclear-powered attack submarine: they were, at least until very recently, supposed to be the secret sauce, the big stick that America and its allies would use against China or Russia if things got ugly—and for good reason. With both nations along with Iran and others developing anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities that make it tough for traditional power projection tools like aircraft carriers to patrol critical waterways in a crisis, stealthy American submarines seemed the best way to ensure tactical and strategic advantage—waging war below the waves of deadly A2/AD battle-networks. U.S. attack subs were even at one point the main ingredient for America’s main effort to turn A2/AD on its head, the always controversial and misunderstood Air-Sea Battle Concept.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/invention-could-turn-us-nuclear-submarines-quasi-aircraft-carriers-52812
