Will Nuclear-Armed Columbia-Class Submarines May Be The Stealthiest Ever?
US Navy nuclear armed ballistic missile submarines offer the backbone of US strategic deterrence
KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN - CENTER FOR MILITARY MODERNIZATIONUPDATED:2 HOURS AGOORIGINAL:MAR 20, 2023
By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington D.C.) Lurking secretly in dark waters around the world holding potential adversaries at risk of nuclear destruction from unknown locations, US Navy nuclear armed ballistic missile submarines offer the backbone of US strategic deterrence. Undersea strategic deterrence essentially guarantees second-strike retaliatory catastrophic destruction of any adversary who attacks the US with nuclear weapons…. thus preventing war by ensuring the complete annihilation of any country launching a nuclear first strike on the US. The promise of total destruction, somewhat paradoxically one might say, keeps the peace.
This conceptual premise is why, for many years now, the Pentagon has identified the now emerging Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines as a number one DoD acquisition priority. After years of science and technology, prototyping and advanced design specs, the US Navy is now building its first Columbia-class submarine slated to arrive at the end of the decade. Designed to replace the aging fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines which have performed admirably for decades well beyond their expected service life, the Columbias will introduce a wide sphere of new technological leaps forward in the realm of the undersea.
The innovations woven into the Columbia-class submarines are numerous, perhaps the most significant of which is the way it is built with a new, ultra-quiet electric drive propulsion system replacing legacy hydraulic systems. Among other things, this means that Columbia-class submarines will be much harder to detect than existing Ohios and therefore be better positioned for clandestine strategic deterrence missions. An electric drive has other advantages as well, as it enables more on-board electrical power sufficient to sustain on board command and control, navigational systems and energy necessary for many of its technologies.
https://warriormaven.com/sea/will-nuclear-armed-columbia-class-submarines-may-be-the-stealthiest-ever
