Virginia Class Submarine
USS Virginia in Portsmouth, Virginia |
|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Virginia |
| Builders: | General Dynamics Electric Boat Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Operators: | United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Seawolf class attack submarine |
| Cost: | $2.5 billion per unit (2012 prices) $50 million per unit (annual operating cost) |
| Built: | 2000 – present |
| In commission: | 2004 – present |
| Building: | 5 |
| Planned: | 33 |
| Completed: | 9 |
| Active: | 9 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Attack submarine |
| Displacement: | 7,900 metric tons (7,800 long tons) |
| Length: | 377 ft (115 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion: | S9G reactor 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) |
| Speed: | +25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h) |
| Range: | unlimited except by food supplies |
| Test depth: | +800 ft (240 m) |
| Complement: | 135 (15:120) |
| Armament: |
12 × VLS (BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile) tubes |
The Virginia class (or SSN-774 class) is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy. The submarines are designed for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral missions. They were conceived as a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf class attack submarines, designed during the Cold War era, and they are planned to replace the older of the Los Angeles-class submarines, twenty of which have already been decommissioned (from a total of 62 built). The class was developed under the codename "Centurion", renamed to NSSN (New SSN) later on with design work (possibly) starting as early as 1993.
Read more about Virginia Class Submarine: Innovations, Construction and Controversy, Specifications
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