Synopsis: The U.S. Navy’s SSN(X) program, designed to combine the stealth of the Virginia-class with the firepower of the Seawolf-class, is facing critical delays and skepticism.
-Originally slated for the mid-2030s, the first procurement has slipped to the early 2040s, creating a dangerous 14-year lag while China’s navy continues to expand rapidly.
The Virginia-class attack submarine Pre-Commissioning Unit Mississippi (SSN 782) conducts alpha trials in the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat)
U.S. Navy Sailors stationed aboard the Virginia Class New Attack Submarine Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) TEXAS (SSN 775) stands topside as the boat gets underway from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Aug. 22, 2006. TEXAS is the second Virginia Class submarine built and the first major U.S. Navy combatant vessel class designed with the post-Cold War security environment in mind. TEXAS will be commissioned Sept 9, 2006 in Galveston, Texas. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kelvin Edwards) (Released)
-Congress remains hesitant to fully back the program due to its staggering estimated cost of $8 billion per hull, industrial base limitations, and unresolved debates over whether to switch from highly enriched uranium to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) reactors.
-Despite the need to replace aging Los Angeles-class boats with a new electric-drive platform capable of countering unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), the SSN(X) risks becoming a failure before it ever launches.
Stealth of a Virginia, Firepower of a Seawolf: Meet the SSN(X) Submarine
In the Western world, the letter “X” is used to convey a sense of mystery and secrecy.
1990s sci-fi buffs will recall “The X-Files” TV and movie franchise (which appropriately included a supporting character named “X,” played by actor Steven Williams).
Old-school WWE buffs (from back in the day when it was still known as the WWF) will recall the masked wrestler Mr. X (“from parts unknown, weight unknown”), who later turned out to be none other than the villainous referee “Dangerous” Danny Davis (not to be confused with 19FortyFive writer Daniel L. Davis).
In the aviation world, there’ve been the “X-planes,” as in experimental, such as the Bell X-1 (the first aircraft to break the sound barrier), the North American X-15 rocket plane (that attained a mind-blowing airspeed of Mach 6.7) and the Boeing X-32 (one of the great “Coulda, shoulda, woulda” stories of stealth fighter development).
And in U.S. Navy parlance, “X” designates a pending warship project whose exact design is yet to be determined.
Alas, in the case of the prospective of the SSN(X) program—the prospective next generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines—at the rate it’s progressing, so far it looks more worthy of a different type of “X,” that being a schoolteacher’s mark for an incorrect answer on a student’s test paper.
So, What Are the Problems?
Unsurprisingly, the same not-so-dynamic duo that plagues all too many promising military technologies: time and money (as in too much of each being spent).
The USN’s fiscal year 2026 budget request includes $222.8 million in research and development funding for SSN(X), but the anticipated first procurement has now slipped from the mid-2030s to the early 2040s, a prime example of the mind-numbingly arcane and convoluted Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition process that Pete Hegeth has been trying to reform since he assumed the position of Secretary of Defense a year ago.
That amounts to a lag time of at least 14 years, with China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) continuing to expand and modernize its own submarine fleet all the while. According to Indo-Pacific (INDOPACOM) Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, Beijing produces two submarines a year for every 1.4 made in America.
And Then There’s Congress
For the sake of fairness and balance, we can’t lay all the blame at the feet of the DOD for the SSN(X) program’s woes.
There’s also that whole “power of the purse” problem: the SSN(X) has not yet received clear and unequivocal Congressional backing. A July 9, 2025 report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS; not to be confused with “Can’t Remember S**t”) outlines multiple reasons for the lack of Congressional commitment:
-Whether the Navy has accurately identified the SSN(X)’s required capabilities and analyzed their impact on the SSN(X)’s cost
-Potential future impact of the SSN(X) program on funding 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 USN estimate;
-Potential impact of deferring procurement of the first SSN(X) from FY2035 to FY2040 on the future U.S. ability to maintain undersea superiority and fulfill U.S. Navy missions;
-The Navy’s plan for managing the impact on the submarine design industrial base of deferring procurement of the first SSN(X) to FY2040
US Navy Virginia-class Submarine Under Construction.
-Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the SSN(X) being powered by a reactor plant using low enriched uranium (LEU), rather than the highly enriched uranium (HEU) used on other Navy nuclear-powered ships (such as the Nimitz-class and Ford-class supercarrier), particularly if procurement of the first SSN(X) is deferred to FY2040, and if so, what impact that would have on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation efforts and SSN(X) costs and capabilities
-Whether each SSN(X) should be built jointly by General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII/Newport News Shipbuilding, or whether individual SSN(X)s should instead be completely built within a given shipyard.
A lot to ponder, to say the least.
So, Why Even Bother?
A fair question there, dear readers.
The short answer is because the USN’s current SSNs are getting long in the tooth:
-The venerable and time-honored Los Angeles-class (SSN 668) fast-attack subs were commissioned between 1976 and 1996.
-The intended successors to the Los Angeles-class boats, the Seawolf-class SSNs, were cancelled in 1995 after only three were built (commissioned between 1997 and 2005).
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 lead boat of the Virginia-class SSNs, USS Virginia (SSN-774), was commissioned in October 2004
And on paper, the SSN(X) will provide the best of both worlds, with the stealth of the Virginia-class and the firepower of the Seawolf-class. For good measure, it’ll feature electric drive propulsion, enhanced sensors, and the ability to counter enemy unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).
If it ever actually gets built, that is. And, at last estimate, these subs could cost $8 Billion easy. I guess time will tell.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
