Key Points – The US Navy’s Seawolf-class submarine program, often called the “F-22 Raptor of submarines” due to its advanced capabilities and similarly truncated production (only three of 29 planned boats were built), is viewed as a significant post-Cold War strategic misstep.
-This premature cancellation, driven by “peace dividend” budget cuts, underestimated future undersea threats from Russia and China, contributing directly to the current US “submarine deficit.”
-The Seawolf offered superior depth performance (HY-100 steel), a massive 50-Tomahawk payload, and an advanced sonar suite—capabilities the subsequent Virginia-class has sought to incorporate through upgrades like the Virginia Payload Module.
F-22 Submarine? Meet the Seawolf-Class
Many experts call the Seawolf-class the F-22 Raptor of submarines for a simple reason: the program was cut short, resulting in the loss of excellent capabilities that would be needed later.
And, of course, both programs ended with very low numbers of both platforms in actual finished production.
Cold War End Creates a Problem for U.S. Navy
The end of the Cold War resulted in a premature end for the promising and heavily armed Seawolf-class of submarines, capable boats that arguably would have continued in production and service if Pentagon decision-makers had embraced a longer-term view of potential global threats.
The United States Navy only built three of a planned fleet of 29 boats. Twenty-nine boats would arguably have helped avoid, diminish, or offset the service’s current submarine deficit.
What appears to have been an overly narrow or short-term view of the future global threat environment has arguably diminished or compromised US Navy undersea superiority to some extent.
While the end of the Cold War may have decreased the need for military build-up in the short term at the time, any realistic longer-term threat assessment could have quickly and easily determined that the US would continue to need a large, capable fleet of attack submarines to ensure deterrence and undersea superiority.
Should the US Navy push for more of these subs?
Submarine Deficit
For many years now, Navy commanders have been clear that combatant commander demand for submarines exceeds the number of available submarines. This shortage increases the threat equation for US surface ships and forward-stationed forces, particularly in the Pacific.
While the collapse of the former Soviet Union undoubtedly drove a need to adjust strategic military planning, it seems in retrospect that the decision to truncate SeaWolf submarines indicated that Pentagon planners massively underestimated or did not envision the kind of undersea threat Russia’s submarine technology would present to NATO over the long term.
Russia has never had much of a surface Navy and has for decades primarily presented a land threat, yet its submarine fleet has been and appears to be extremely dangerous to the West, US, and NATO.
Perhaps Pentagon planners would have been well served to anticipate more fully the possibility that Russia could remain or easily re-emerge as a major threat to the US despite the Soviet collapse in the late 1980s. Continued production of Seawolf submarines would not have precluded the need for Virginia-class submarines.
Still, it may have massively lessened US Navy vulnerability during the transition years as Los Angeles-class submarines continued to retire.
Seawolf Technology
Continued Seawolf-class boats would have prevented a troubling submarine deficit for the US. Added to this circumstance is that Seawolf submarines were extremely capable boats built with HY-100 steel that could withstand water pressure at greater depths.
Perhaps of even greater relevance, the Seawolf submarines were heavily armed boats, as they could carry as many as 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Given this, the cancellation of the Seawolf class certainly explains some of the urgency with which the Navy has been building Block V Virginia-class attack submarines with significantly increased Tomahawk missile capability.
Virginia Payload Modules, now built into Block V Virginia-class submarines, add an 80-foot section to the boats, sufficient to add as many as 28 more Tomahawk missiles. This increase brings the firepower of Virginia-class boats from 12 Tomahawk missiles up to 40.
Firepower is increasingly important, particularly in great power threat scenarios, and the need for rapid production of Block V Virginias certainly became much greater urgency with the premature cancellation of the Seawolf class submarines.
U.S. Navy Seawolf-Class Submarine (Reimagined). Image Credit: Ideogram.
Seawolf-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
PUGET SOUND, Wash. (Sept. 11, 2017) The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) transits the Hood Canal as the boat returns home to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. Jimmy Carter is the last and most advanced of the Seawolf-class attack submarines, which are all homeported at Naval Base Kitsap. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Michael Smith/Released)
The U.S. Navy’s newest attack submarine, USS Seawolf (SSN 21), conducts Bravo sea trials off the coast of Connecticut in preparation for its scheduled commissioning in July 1997.
The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut transits the Pacific Ocean during Annual Exercise. ANNUALEX is a yearly bilateral exercise with the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The first of a revolutionary new class of fast attack submarine, the Seawolf (SSN-21). Shown during construction at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Conn. She was christened by Margaret Dalton, wife of Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton, on June 24, 1995.
There are other similarities between the Seawolf concept and upgrades to the Virginia-class boats, such as the addition of a Large Aperture Bow sonar system to Virginias, which appears somewhat aligned with the Seawolf’s larger “spherical sonar array, wide aperture array, and new towed-array sonar,” as explained by Harpoondatabases.com.
The Seawolf was reportedly designed for shallow operations and Special Operation Forces mission support and delivery. This is also quite similar to Virginia boats, as Block III Virginias are built with a unique “Lock Out Trunk” designed to fill with water and quietly enable special operations forces to deploy on clandestine missions.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is Military Technology Editor of 1945 and the 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.
