SSN(X): What is the Status of the Navy’s Next-Generation Attack Submarine? – It could be well over a decade before the United States Navy begins to procure its new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN), the “Next-Generation Attack Submarine” – SSN(X). However, the development of the successor to the Virginia-class is already underway. The SSN(X) program is expected to incorporate advanced technologies and capabilities to ensure that the new submarines will be able to meet the evolving challenges of the modern maritime environment.
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A number of issues are still unresolved.
According to a December 2022 report from the government watchdog Congressional Research Service, the U.S. Navy’s proposed fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget requests $237.0 million in research and development funding for the SSN(X) program. Current issues for Congress include whether the Navy has accurately identified the SSN(X)’s required capabilities and accurately analyzed the impact that various required capabilities can have on the SSN(X)’s cost.
In addition, Congress should consider the potential impact of the SSN(X) program on funding that will be available for other Navy program priorities, particularly if the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) estimate of the SSN(X)’s procurement cost is more accurate than the U.S. Navy’s estimate. In November, CBO estimated that total shipbuilding costs would average about $30 billion to $33 billion (in 2022 dollars) over the next 30 years, which was 14 percent to 18 percent more than the U.S. Navy estimates – while the United States Navy’s total budget would increase from $220 billion today to roughly $290 billion (in 2022 dollars) in 2052.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY23, which was authorized by Congress in December, appropriated $32.6 billion for the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding efforts. That was an increase from the $27.9 billion the service asked for in its budget request.
The Nuclear Options
Another issue presented to lawmakers is whether it would be technically feasible for the SSN(X) to be powered by a reactor plant using low-enriched uranium (LEU), rather than the highly enriched uranium (HEU) used on other Navy nuclear-powered ships, and if so, what impact that would have on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation efforts and SSN(X) costs and capabilities.
A final consideration from the Congressional Research Service is whether each SSN(X) should be built jointly by General Dynamics Electric Boat Division (GD/EB) of Groton, Connecticut, and Quonset Point, RI, and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding (HII/NNS), of Newport News, Virginia. That was the approach used for building Virginia-class SSNs and, in modified form, for building Columbia-class SSBNs. Alternatively, the individual SSN(X)s could instead be completely built within a given shipyard, which had been the separate-yard approach used for building earlier Navy SSNs and SSBNs.
Can’t Come Soon Enough
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday recently warned that the U.S. industry has to demonstrate they can meet the shipbuilding tasks they’ve been given. Though Gilday noted that the SSN(X), and the Next-Generation Guided-Missile Destroyer are now underway, he’d like to see the efforts increase.
“My message to industry would be to pick up the pace,” Gilday said during a speech at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference, National Defense reported. “And I know it’s easy for me to say that, but we’re paying a lot of money … and we’re not getting what we’re paying for with respect to two or three ships a year.”
SSN(X): What We Know
Details about the SSN(X) remain sparse – but as NavalNews.com reported last year, the SSN(X) design places greater emphasis on Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) by increasing the SSN(X)’s transit speed and stealth features and characteristics over the current Virginia-class nuclear attack sub. Moreover, the SSN(X) will also carry more weapons and a more diverse payload than the Virginia subs in order to deal with more advanced enemy submarines and unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs), and be able to coordinate with allied warships and forces.
It could be equipped with and/or utilize laser weapons, conformal bow sonar, quantum technology, larger weapons stowage compartments, additional torpedo tubes, very large flank arrays, quieter electric drive propulsion, X-rudder for better maneuverability, and VLS for cruise missile and future hypersonic weapons.
The exact capabilities of the SSN(X) have yet to be disclosed.
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Author Experience and Expertise: A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
