Summary and Key Points: Drawing on his extensive operational background as a former U.S. Army Special Forces Warrant Officer, defense columnist Steve Balestrieri explores the mysteries of the U.S. Navy’s most expensive attack submarine: the USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23).
-Costing over $3.5 billion, this heavily modified Seawolf-class vessel features a 100-foot hull extension known as the Multi-Mission Platform.
USS Jimmy Carter Seawolf-Class. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Seawolf-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Designed to act as a covert mothership for Navy SEALs and advanced espionage operations, the Jimmy Carter now deploys the cutting-edge Dry Combat Submersible (DCS), allowing special operators to traverse the ocean depths entirely undetected and arrive at their targets warm, rested, and ready for action.
The $3.5 Billion Spy Submarine: Inside the U.S. Navy’s USS Jimmy Carter
Commissioned in 2005, the USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) is a unique Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, known as a spy submarine for its specialized modifications.
This Seawolf-class boat is no ordinary submarine. It races beneath the surface with unmatched speed, stealth, and weaponry, even compared to more modern boats. It is also the most expensive SSN submarine the U.S. Navy has ever built, costing over $3.5 billion—a price tag that exceeds the entire annual naval budgets of many smaller nations.
And it is worth every cent.
It is equipped with an additional 100-foot hull extension called the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows it to launch special equipment such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), conduct undersea warfare, deploy Navy SEALs, and potentially tap into undersea cables. The submarine is designed for quiet and deep operations, making it ideal for intelligence gathering and clandestine missions.
The USS Jimmy Carter recently completed major maintenance and modernization at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and is actively performing its unique, covert missions, as evidenced by recent sightings in the Pacific.
An artist’s concept of the nuclear-powered submarine SEAWOLF (SSN-21).
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 aerial image shows the sail from a starboard angle, looking forward, 9/16/1996. Jim Brennan. (OPA-NARA II-9/10/2015).
Seawolf-Class Submarine USS Seawolf. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Seawolf-class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Dry Combat Submersible (DCS)
The USS Jimmy Carter has the newly developed Dry Combat Submersible (DCS) for highly classified, sensitive missions conducted by USSOCOM.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the DCS can transport SEALs in a fully pressurized cabin, transforming undersea warfare by enabling missions with greater stealth, precision, and readiness.
The DCS offers a safe, clandestine method for transporting special operators over long distances in a dry environment. Its unique lock-in/lock-out chamber allows operatives to arrive at their mission fully prepared and undetected without the need for wetsuits or exposure to harsh elements.
It features an all-electric propulsion system with a range of approximately 66 nautical miles and can dive to depths of 330 feet.
Two pilots operate the 40-foot-long vehicle, which can carry up to eight special operators and their gear.
“The Dry Combat Submersible has the potential to transform undersea warfare for special operators,” Gregg Bauer, C6ISR vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin, said.
“DCS provides safe, clandestine delivery for occupants over long distances in a completely dry environment and features a lock-in and lock-out chamber. Occupants arrive at the mission warm, rested, hydrated, and ready.”
BREMERTON, Wash. (Dec. 15, 2016) – The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) departs Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for sea trials following a maintenance availability. (U.S. Navy photo by Thiep Van Nguyen II/released)
Seawolf-class. Image: U.S. Navy.
The Final Seawolf-Class Submarine Is Unique
The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) was the third and final Seawolf-class submarine, modified by Electric Boat to accommodate advanced technologies for naval special warfare, tactical surveillance, and mine warfare operations. It is 100 feet longer than a typical Seawolf submarine, is packed with new technology, and serves as a “mothership” for Navy SEAL teams.
Named for former-President Carter, who himself was a nuclear submariner. Carter is the only president who ever served on submarines. He was a Naval officer from 1946 to 1953. The submarine is based out of Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Washington.
War Department studies have described the Navy’s need to develop submarines with “improved payload capabilities and a flexible interface with the undersea environment, without sacrificing Seawolf-class warfighting capability.” According to the Navy, the Jimmy Carter modification perfectly fits those goals.
The $887 million modification required alterations to the basic Seawolf design in the areas of ballast control, mission-management spaces, and various services.
A unique feature of the modification was the creation of a flexible ocean interface, referred to as the “wasp waist,” which enables the Navy to deploy and recover various payloads without using torpedo tubes.
The USS Jimmy Carter was delivered to the U.S. Navy in December 2004 and commissioned in 2005.
The USS Jimmy Carter’s Ocean Interface Section
The Carter is a Multi-Mission Platform (MMP) submarine. During construction, an additional Ocean Interface (OI) section, sometimes referred to as “the plug,” was installed in its hull, providing additional space for various missions and equipment.
The “ocean interface” on the USS Jimmy Carter is a unique modification that enables the submarine to launch and recover remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), divers, and other payloads without using its torpedo tubes.
The MMP creates a large, floodable hangar area between a smaller internal pressure hull (the “wasp waist”) and the outer hull. This “aquarium” section is filled with seawater and kept at ambient pressure, allowing personnel inside the pressurized hull to operate equipment in the hangar.
This section can launch Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Countermeasures, Sensors, and classified research systems.
The USS Jimmy Carter also received auxiliary precision thrusters forward and aft, which allow the boat to hold station or hold a position relative to a point on the seafloor or a structure, even in tricky currents. Despite its enormous size, the Carter can maneuver like a ballerina.
While there are only two “regular” Seawolf submarines and the Carter, they are still outstanding assets to the fleet. The USS Seawolf is scheduled for extended maintenance in 2026, leaving the Navy with only the Carter until the USS Connecticut returns from a five-year dry-dock repair after a collision with an underwater mountain.
Presidential Unit Citation And The History Of “The Jolly Roger” Flag
The crew of the USS Jimmy Carter received the Presidential Unit Citation in 2013 for what has become known as “Mission-7”, with the Navy only saying that it “completed extremely demanding and arduous independent submarine operations of vital importance to the national security of the United States.”
The USS Jimmy Carter’s “Mission 7” was a highly classified, eight-week-long deployment in early January 2013 that earned the submarine’s crew a Presidential Unit Citation.
The mission is shrouded in secrecy, but it is widely believed to have involved advanced espionage, such as tapping undersea cables for intelligence gathering in the Pacific. The submarine returned to port in Hawaii for repairs, displaying signs of damage and flying the Jolly Roger flag, a traditional symbol of a successful covert mission.
This led to speculation in 2017 surrounding potential intelligence operations near North Korea. The tradition of flying the flag dates back to World War I and signifies a successful mission.
In 1901, Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, then a senior Royal Navy officer, famously condemned submarines as “underhanded, unfair, and damned un-English”. He stated that he wanted captured enemy submariners hanged as pirates.
During World War I, Wilson’s other derogatory comments about submarines inspired Lt. Cmdr. Max Horton in 1914 to fly the “Jolly Roger” or pirate flag as a way of thumbing their noses at the admiral’s words after sinking a German warship.
The Navy Wanted The Seawolf-Class Submarines
The Navy wanted the Seawolf-class submarines to counter increasingly advanced Soviet submarines, such as the Typhoon and Akula classes, during the late Cold War.
The Seawolf design was a next-generation response to this threat, providing unparalleled stealth, speed, and deep-ocean capabilities with advanced sonar and a stronger hull to withstand greater depths.
The ships were also designed to carry a significant arsenal of weapons, including more Tomahawk cruise missiles, and were equipped for both blue-water and shallow-water operations. The Seawolf could race at 35 knots beneath the surface or go 20 knots in silent mode.
More Advanced Than The Virginia-Class, The Seawolf Is Unique
The Seawolf class is actually more advanced than the Virginia-class boats that the Navy is building today.
The Seawolf submarine is in a class all by itself. The hull was designed to withstand deeper dives; it weighs 9,000 tons, could carry 50 torpedoes and cruise missiles, and has unsurpassed stealth.
The boat is about 300 yards long, packed with weapons and technology, and quieter than a church mouse. When the Soviet Union collapsed in on itself. The 29 Seawolf submarines the Navy wanted were reduced to 12, and then to three.
In another short-sighted move toward the future, the Pentagon cut the program to the bone. The Clinton administration’s “peace dividend” was a mistake that the War Department is still paying for today.
The Navy would love to have another 26 Seawolf submarines today. And another USS Jimmy Carter (or two).
Reports indicate that a new Modified Virginia-class Submarine and Seabed Warfare (Mod VA SSW) submarine is planned as a successor to the USS Jimmy Carter. That submarine will have mighty big shoes to fill.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a U.S. Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
