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Columbia-class submarine
The upcoming Columbia class (formerly known as the Ohio Replacement Submarine and SSBN-X Future Follow-on Submarine) are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the United States Navy, designed to replace the Ohio class. Construction of the first vessel began on 1 October 2020, and is scheduled to enter service in 2031.
On 3 June 2022, the Navy announced that the lead vessel of the class will be named USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826), because there is already an attack submarine named USS Columbia (SSN-771). Nevertheless, the Navy has since continued to refer to the class as Columbia.
The Columbia class is to replace the Ohio class of ballistic missile submarines, whose remaining boats are to be decommissioned, one per year, beginning in 2028.[citation needed] The Columbia class will take over the role of submarine presence in the United States' strategic nuclear force.
Electric Boat designed the new class with help from Newport News Shipbuilding. A total of twelve submarines are planned, and construction of the lead boat began in 2021. Each submarine will have sixteen missile tubes, each carrying one UGM-133 Trident II D5LE missile.[citation needed] (The ninth and later Columbias are to receive the upgraded D5LE2s.) The submarines will be 560 feet (170.7 m) long and 43 feet (13.1 m) in diameter, as long as the Ohio-class design, and 1 foot (30 cm) larger in diameter.
To determine how many submarines would be needed for the U.S. strategic nuclear force, Navy planners calculated how many missiles would be needed at sea and on station at any given time, how many each submarine should carry, and the likelihood that a submarine will remain undiscovered by the enemy and be able to launch. They also explored how required maintenance would affect availability. Cost-reduction studies explored design and construction possibilities, including adding missile tubes to the design of the Virginia-class attack submarine, building Ohio-class replacement submarines using updated Ohio-class designs, and developing an entirely new Ohio Replacement Submarine design.
The Navy concluded that a new design would be the least expensive option that could meet all of the technical requirements. For example, while the modified Virginia-class and updated Ohio-class design options would have required an expensive mid-life refueling, each Columbia-class nuclear core will last as long as the submarine is in service.
The design and technology development of the Columbia class is projected to cost $4.2 billion (fiscal 2010 dollars), with technology and components from the Ohio and Virginia classes included where possible to save money.[citation needed] The cost to build District of Columbia, the lead boat of the class, will be an estimated $6.2 billion (fiscal 2010 dollars). The Navy has a goal of reducing the average cost of the remaining eleven planned hulls in the class to $4.9 billion each (fiscal 2010 dollars). The total lifecycle cost of the entire class is estimated at $347 billion. The high cost of the submarines is expected to cut deeply into Navy shipbuilding.
In April 2014, the Navy completed a 300-page specification report for the Ohio Replacement Program submarines. There are 159 specifications including weapons, escape routes, fluid systems, hatches, doors, seawater systems, and a set length of 560 ft (170 m), partly to allow for sufficient volume inside the pressure hull.
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Columbia-class submarine
The upcoming Columbia class (formerly known as the Ohio Replacement Submarine and SSBN-X Future Follow-on Submarine) are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of the United States Navy, designed to replace the Ohio class. Construction of the first vessel began on 1 October 2020, and is scheduled to enter service in 2031.
On 3 June 2022, the Navy announced that the lead vessel of the class will be named USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826), because there is already an attack submarine named USS Columbia (SSN-771). Nevertheless, the Navy has since continued to refer to the class as Columbia.
The Columbia class is to replace the Ohio class of ballistic missile submarines, whose remaining boats are to be decommissioned, one per year, beginning in 2028.[citation needed] The Columbia class will take over the role of submarine presence in the United States' strategic nuclear force.
Electric Boat designed the new class with help from Newport News Shipbuilding. A total of twelve submarines are planned, and construction of the lead boat began in 2021. Each submarine will have sixteen missile tubes, each carrying one UGM-133 Trident II D5LE missile.[citation needed] (The ninth and later Columbias are to receive the upgraded D5LE2s.) The submarines will be 560 feet (170.7 m) long and 43 feet (13.1 m) in diameter, as long as the Ohio-class design, and 1 foot (30 cm) larger in diameter.
To determine how many submarines would be needed for the U.S. strategic nuclear force, Navy planners calculated how many missiles would be needed at sea and on station at any given time, how many each submarine should carry, and the likelihood that a submarine will remain undiscovered by the enemy and be able to launch. They also explored how required maintenance would affect availability. Cost-reduction studies explored design and construction possibilities, including adding missile tubes to the design of the Virginia-class attack submarine, building Ohio-class replacement submarines using updated Ohio-class designs, and developing an entirely new Ohio Replacement Submarine design.
The Navy concluded that a new design would be the least expensive option that could meet all of the technical requirements. For example, while the modified Virginia-class and updated Ohio-class design options would have required an expensive mid-life refueling, each Columbia-class nuclear core will last as long as the submarine is in service.
The design and technology development of the Columbia class is projected to cost $4.2 billion (fiscal 2010 dollars), with technology and components from the Ohio and Virginia classes included where possible to save money.[citation needed] The cost to build District of Columbia, the lead boat of the class, will be an estimated $6.2 billion (fiscal 2010 dollars). The Navy has a goal of reducing the average cost of the remaining eleven planned hulls in the class to $4.9 billion each (fiscal 2010 dollars). The total lifecycle cost of the entire class is estimated at $347 billion. The high cost of the submarines is expected to cut deeply into Navy shipbuilding.
In April 2014, the Navy completed a 300-page specification report for the Ohio Replacement Program submarines. There are 159 specifications including weapons, escape routes, fluid systems, hatches, doors, seawater systems, and a set length of 560 ft (170 m), partly to allow for sufficient volume inside the pressure hull.
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