Critical Design Challenges
Power – The long range requirement strained the ability of existing battery technology.
Shock – Shock requirements for the vessel and for equipment mounted inside translated to "g" acceleration forces four times that currently specified for fleet nuclear submarines. No existing submarine equipment of any kind existed that survived the shock. Displays, computers, mountings, and life support equipment were expensive to re-engineer.
Host Needs – Weight, size, and center of gravity all were limited by what could be carried on the back of a 688 class submarine.
Life Support – The large number of passengers for the small submarine, the need for fully automated and self-controlling systems, and the long periods of submersion (days) presented serious challenges that could not be met with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) nor Government Off The Shelf (GOTS) systems. Existing systems used on large submarines required too much space and too much power. Existing systems on small submarines lacked capacity and the ease-of-use required for combat. Internal heating and cooling systems not usually needed for large submarines were needed for the smaller sub that would go into shallower warmer waters or colder surface waters.
Navigation – Sonar systems developed for attack submarines, but needed for the shallow water maneuvers, were large, power hungry, and gave off lots of heat.
Construction – Initial designs and bids were based on standard submersible construction. During later design phases the government imposed full nuclear sub shock, hull and piping requirements on the designers – nullifying the "off the shelf" design approaches requested by the government in earlier phases. To accommodate the larger piping and thicker hull, other systems had to be lightened. (Reference the GAO and RAND reports.)
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