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The ''Seawolf'' class is a class of
nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
,
fast attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "m ...
s (SSN) in service with the United States Navy. The class was the intended successor to the , and design work began in 1983. A fleet of 29 submarines was to be built over a ten-year period, but that was reduced to 12 submarines. The end of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
and budget constraints led to the cancellation of any further additions to the fleet in 1995, leaving the ''Seawolf'' class limited to just three boats. This, in turn, led to the design of the smaller . The ''Seawolf'' class cost about $3 billion per unit ($3.5 billion for ), making it the most expensive United States Navy fast attack submarine and second most expensive submarine ever, after the French nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...
s.


Design

The ''Seawolf'' design was intended to combat the threat of advanced Soviet ballistic missile submarines such as the , and attack submarines such as the in a deep-ocean environment. ''Seawolf''-class hulls are constructed from HY-100 steel, which is stronger than the
HY-80 HY-80 is a high-tensile, high yield strength, low alloy steel. It was developed for use in naval applications, specifically the development of pressure hulls for the US nuclear submarine program and is still currently used in many naval applicati ...
steel employed in previous classes, in order to withstand water pressure at greater depths. ''Seawolf''-class submarines are larger, faster, and significantly quieter than previous ''Los Angeles''-class submarines; they also carry more weapons and have twice as many torpedo tubes. The boats are able to carry up to 50 UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles for attacking land and sea surface targets. The boats also have extensive equipment to allow shallow water operations. The class uses the more advanced ARCI Modified AN/BSY-2 combat system, which includes a larger spherical sonar array, a wide aperture array (WAA), and a new towed-array sonar. Each boat is powered by a single S6W nuclear reactor, delivering to a low-noise
pump-jet A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller (axial-flow pump), a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of bot ...
. As a result of their advanced design, however, ''Seawolf''-class submarines were much more expensive. The projected cost for 12 submarines of this class was $33.6 billion, but construction was stopped at three boats when the Cold War ended.


Variants

is roughly longer than the other two boats of her class because it has an additional central section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of
remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...
s (ROV) and
Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...
. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. This role was formerly filled by the now decommissioned . ''Jimmy Carter'' was modified for this role by
General Dynamics Electric Boat General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...
at a cost of $887 million.


Boats in class


See also

*
List of submarine classes of the United States Navy Submarines of the United States Navy are built in classes, using a single design for a number of boats. Minor variations occur as improvements are incorporated into the design, so later boats of a class may be more capable than earlier. Also, boat ...
*
List of submarines of the United States Navy This is a list of submarines of the United States Navy, listed by hull number and by name. List See also * Submarines in the United States Navy * List of current ships of the United States Navy * List of lost United States submarines * L ...
*
List of submarine classes in service The list of submarine classes in service includes all submarine classes currently in service with navies or other armed forces worldwide. For surface combatants, see the list of naval ship classes in service. Ballistic missile submarines C ...
*
List of military electronics of the United States This article lists American military electronic instruments/systems along with brief descriptions. This list specifically identifies electronic devices which are assigned designations according to the Joint Electronics Type Designation System ...
*
Submarines in the United States Navy There are three major types of submarines in the United States Navy: ballistic missile submarines, attack submarines, and cruise missile submarines. All submarines currently in the U.S. Navy are Nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered. Ballist ...
*
Cruise missile submarine A cruise missile submarine is a submarine that carries and launches cruise missiles (Submarine-launched cruise missile, SLCMs consisting of land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles) as its primary armament. Missiles greatly enhance a w ...
*
Attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seawolf Class Submarine Submarine classes Naval ships of the United States