Key Points and Summary: The US Navy’s Virginia-class attack submarines are in high demand, but production is failing to keep pace with the fleet’s needs.
-As aging Los Angeles-class subs retire, the Navy faces a worsening shortage, particularly in the Pacific, where China’s naval expansion looms.
-Virginia-class upgrades, including enhanced sonar, stealth coatings, and the Block V’s increased Tomahawk missile capacity, significantly boost their firepower and surveillance capabilities.
Can the US Navy Keep Up? Virginia-Class Submarine Shortage Threatens Pacific Defense
The United States Navy cannot build Virginia-class attack submarines fast enough, as the Combatant Commander’s “need” for the boat continues to outpace available supply massively.
Legacy Los Angeles-class submarines are retiring at a faster pace than Virginias can be added, so the service is experiencing a worsening submarine “deficit,” particularly as it pertains to the vast expanse of the Pacific.
Attack submarines, and Virginias in particular, are in demand due to their increased ability to conduct high-tech clandestine deterrence and surveillance missions, a key reason why the US Navy formally based a Virginia-class submarine in Guam as recently as November 2024.
This growing submarine shortage has inspired years of ongoing discussions between Navy leaders and members of Congress who have been attempting to secure additional funding to increase the production operational tempo of Virginia-class boats from one-to-two or more new submarines per year.
This has prompted many US Navy industrial base assessments as the service has attempted to “flex” industrial capacity to ensure Virginia submarines can be built as quickly as possible.
Upgrades for Virginia-Class
Layers of upgrades have been built into the Virginia-class boats over many years and have arrived in successive waves. Some enhancements have been deliberately and successively built into new “blocks” or variants of the submarines. Other enhancements have been tested on prototype boats and subsequently integrated across the fleet.
Block III Virginia-class submarines, for instance, are built with a number of innovations that have not only informed the future of Virginia-class but also been integrated into Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.
Block III boats use a fiber-optic cable instead of a traditional periscope underneath the top of the hull to transmit images and signals from the mast and antennas anywhere throughout the submarine.
The increased networking enables commanders to view sensor data from anywhere within the submarine without having to stand underneath the top of the boat.
Sonar improvements are also built into Block III Virginias with a larger, longer-range Large Aperture Bow sonar array. This enables greater range detection and greater image fidelity for onboard command and control seeking to track enemy threats from safer standoff distances.
Special Operation Support
Block III Virginia-class submarines have a Lock Out Trunk for Special Operations, a dry area of the boat that can fill up with water to deploy undersea operators from beneath the surface.
Virginia-Class. Image: US Navy.
The largest and perhaps most significant Block III upgrade likely relates to its transition to a “Fly-By-Wire” computer automated navigation system. Instead of being operated by manual hydraulic controls, Block III Virginias are driven by a computerized system that automatically sets depth and speed while a human performs command and control. This system blends the best attributes of human decision-making with the high-speed, procedural and analytical work done more quickly by computers.
These built-in innovations are being added to Virginia Block IV and Block V boats, which are also under construction.
USS South Dakota
Alongside these standard upgrades built into BlocK III, an additional set of major enhancements are now being integrated across the fleet. These were initially prototyped on a test-bed Virginia-class boat called the USS South Dakota. The specifics of these upgrades, including stealth-enhancing coating materials, new antennas, and quieting technologies, are not fully available, yet Navy leaders explain they have proven quite effective. As a result of lessons learned with the prototype USS South Dakota several years ago, the entire fleet of Virginia-class submarines is being upgraded with this additional suite of performance-enhancing technologies.
Block V Firepower
There are also significant increases in firepower being added to the Virginia class with its Block V boats, as they are armed with an additional 80-ft mid-section filled with Tomahawk torpedoes. This amounts to a massive firepower increase as Block V increases the number of Tomahawks a submarine can carry by 28 missiles, from 12 to 40.
The Virginia-class attack submarine Minnesota (SSN 783) is under construction at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding/Released)
Tactical adjustments
The addition of these upgrades has not only led submarine commanders to request higher numbers of Virginia-class submarines but also inspired tactical adjustments. The improved sonar and quieting technologies now enable Virginia-class attack submarines to successfully conduct additional surveillance missions alongside power projection and firepower operations.
Pacific
Given the current threat circumstances in the South China Sea and surrounding Taiwan, the US Navy submarine shortage is particularly relevant in the Pacific. It is realistic to posit that US Navy attack submarines could make a decisive difference in saving or defending Taiwan.
Large surface ships are quite relevant, yet they can be seen easily from satellites and various kinds of surface, ground, and air surveillance technologies. Attack submarines, however, would be positioned to more closely approach high-threat coastal areas or enemy surface fleet configuration with sufficient firepower to hold enemy targets at risk.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
