USS Columbia (SSBN-826)

History of USS Columbia (SSBN-826)

The Columbia-class submarine is the United States Navy's (USN) proposed ballistic missile attack submarine designed to succeed the Ohio-class submarine. The Ohio-class submarines are a product of the last years of the Cold War, built from 1976 to 1997, with a total of 18 complete submarines (2018).

The Columbia class itself will have twelve ships and will be deployed in the same underwater role (SSBN).

The follow-on program was formerly known as Ohio Replacement Subs and SSBN-X Future Subsequent Subs.

For now, the vessel will have a largely traditional design layout, with a tubular shape including a rounded nose cone and a tapered stern section. The sails are located aft of the bow and forward amidships. The rectangular rear of the hull will house the ballistic missile assembly, which will be of a common design shared with the Royal Navy Dreadnought Group and the General Dynamics Electric Boat Company that developed it. Armament will be concentrated on just 12 to 16 ballistic missile tubes, compared to the current 24 Ohio-class submarines. The dive plane is set on the sail itself.

The propulsion concept includes a nuclear reactor and an electric propulsion unit, the latter of which exhibits promising reductions in operating noise (acoustic signature). At the rear is an X-shaped horizontal stabilizer to improve maneuverability.

Planned dimensions include an overall length of 560 feet and a width of 43 feet. Due to the ship's nuclear propulsion scheme, the range is essentially unlimited.

The first service vessel of this class was named USS Columbia (SSBN-826). Construction of the series is scheduled to begin sometime in 2021, with the first ship to enter service over the next decade, possibly 2031. The main contractors are Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding.

Specification

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Performance

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