April 14, 2020
Real Killers: Meet the Navy's New Columbia-Class Submarines
Welcome to the future.
by Caleb Larson
The Columbia-class is designed to be the United States’ high-tech nuclear deterrent in case of an attack by providing a stealthy counter-strike ability. Here’s what makes them different.
The U.S. Navy’s newest submarines are slated to begin construction this year, according to General Dynamic Corporation’s CEO. The twelve hulls of the Columbia-class are slated to replace the fourteen hull Ohio-class around 2031. Electric Boat, a subdivision of General Dynamic, is to construct the fleet in tandem with another U.S. shipbuilder, Newport News Shipbuilding.
Rather than having hull-mounted diving planes, the Columbia-class will have sail-mounted fins, which will be simpler to maintain. X-shaped stern (rear) control surfaces will also allow the class to have better handling in shallow waters.
The class will also likely have more advanced stealth characteristics in the form of anechoic tiles. These rubberized tiles are embedded with air pockets of varying size and adhere to the outside of the submarine. The size of the air pockets are optimized for different depths, and are designed to absorb sonar, helping to make the hulls harder to detect underwater.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/real-killers-meet-navys-new-columbia-class-submarines-144097
