gc
05-07-2005, 09:56 PM
An article on the capability of our SSGN, which we will have 4 before the end of this decade. Helluva powerful. :)
Overview of SSGN Capabilities
Now that the program has been established, it’s a good time to regroup and summarize the status of SSGN. Here is a quick summary of the capabilities the baseline SSGN brings to joint warfare:
TRIDENT stealth and reliability, with more than 20 years of service life remaining for each SSGN;
Large-volume precision strike, with up to 154 Tomahawk and Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles;
Sustained Special Forces operations, to include insertion, extraction, and support of 66 Special Forces personnel, conditioned and ready, with onboard periods much longer than on SSNs;
Command center for mission planning and execution;
Capacity for conducting other SSN missions, such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (ISRT); anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare and mine warfare;
High-data-rate connectivity and joint command/control capability with a “Virginia-class” advanced SSN radio room and ISR suite;
70 percent operational availability by using two crews ñ to achieve a continuous, 2.65-ship deployed presence in support of CINC mission requirements;
20 times the payload of an SSN, with large ocean interfaces (22 seven-foot diameter launching tubes, two for SOF lock-out), opportunity for payload experimentation and development.
Payload
Stealth, endurance, and agility have long enabled nuclear-powered submarines to take sensors and precision weapons into the fray with little or no logistical support. However, in spite of their unmatched supremacy beneath the world’s oceans and their ability to strike with impunity with dozens of cruise missiles, the greatest limitation of today’s attack submarines is payload. As new off-board vehicles such as the Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS) are introduced to the fleet, the cost of transporting and deploying these systems will be counted in terms of weapons left behind on the pier.
Even beyond its baseline mission capabilities, SSGN offers significant opportunities to develop and test new weapon delivery systems, sensors, and operational concepts that could further transform naval warfare. Two examples already envisioned are encapsulated launch of a variety of tactical munitions and deployment of large unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) and off-board sensors. Encapsulated launch will send weapons to the surface for dry-launching, using a standardized buoyant capsule and a common interface for loading and communications. This modular approach to payloads will even allow use of “off-the-shelf” weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles, and decoys in support of joint forces. And, by developing large UUVs that make full use of the seven-foot tubes, they can surpass the range, endurance, and payload of small surveillance platforms and take on new missions - even offensive ones.
Strike Capabilities
The SSGN will bring a new dimension to strike warfare. Currently, SSNs with up to two-dozen Tomahawks usually launch missiles in salvos of three or four (16 maximum), while on SSGN a salvo of 20 missiles will represent less than 15 percent of the full load of 140 or 154 missiles. One might ask where the nearly 600 Tomahawks needed to fully arm four SSGNs will come from. The answer is ñ the Submarine Force. Existing submarine torpedo-tube launched (TTL) TLAMs will be converted for vertical launch to provide the required load-outs. Obviously, the number of TLAMs available to deploying SSNs will decrease as a result, but if you consider that a missile on an SSGN is deployed 70 percent of the time, the overall TLAM inventory immediately available to the CINCs will increase by about 50 to 60 percent. This shift of weapons will also open up some room in SSN torpedo rooms for more torpedoes or alternative payloads, like LMRS and other unmanned vehicles.
Special Operations Forces (SOF)
SEALs have operated from submarines for years. Conversion of the SSBNs USS James K. Polk (SSN-645) and USS Kamehameha (SSN-642) - since inactivated - gave us the space for embarked SEALs to work out and maintain their conditioning for extended periods and to deploy with their equipment. SSGN will not only restore the force’s large, sustainable SOF capability, but will include significant command and control capabilities well beyond those of previous boats. With a dedicated command center and a “Virginia-class” communication system, SSGN will be able to control a Special Forces campaign over a period of months from her covert position. Once on scene, SSGN will deploy Special Forces submerged, either from the SEAL delivery vehicles (SDVs) housed in the dry-deck shelters, or in the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) mini-subs, where SEALs will travel to locations over 125 nm away in a dry environment. SSGNs should prove to be the most advanced covert Special Forces platforms ever.
Mission Agility
The SSGN’s inherent stealth and endurance - as with all nuclear-powered submarines - will enable it to conduct many traditional SSN surveillance or sea control missions, even though it will be optimized for strike and SOF because of its immense payload capacity. In fact, it will be a necessary and complementary requirement for SSGNs to conduct surveillance of enemy activities ashore and at sea while on patrol. To illustrate, consider an SSGN operating in a strike launch basket, deploying and recovering SEALs and performing coastal surveillance. This ship could break off, if required, and engage a hostile diesel submarine to protect allied ships, or deploy LMRS or other mine reconnaissance assets to support theater mine warfare operations. The bottom line is that the mission agility of our nuclear-powered submarines and their broadly trained crews makes them capable of nearly any “submarine” mission.
Concept of Operations
Dual-crewed SSGNs will deliver these extraordinary warfighting capabilities tothe CINCs with unrivaled efficiency. SSGNs will have a deployment cyclesimilar to TRIDENT SSBNs, with every other crew turnover at a forward-deployed site to achieve a higher operational availability and in-theater presence. A strong, efficient, and well-established infrastructure is required to make this work, and we already have that in the TRIDENT program. Since the TRIDENT maintenance and support systems are located in Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, it follows that the most cost-effective option for homeporting SSGN will be at those bases. Currently, if four SSGN conversions are funded, it is expected that two would be stationed on each coast to balance support to the EUCOM, CENTCOM and PACOM theaters. Locations for the forward-deployed turnovers will depend on where they are operating, but could include Guam, La Maddalena, Italy, and Diego Garcia, as examples.
Overview of SSGN Capabilities
Now that the program has been established, it’s a good time to regroup and summarize the status of SSGN. Here is a quick summary of the capabilities the baseline SSGN brings to joint warfare:
TRIDENT stealth and reliability, with more than 20 years of service life remaining for each SSGN;
Large-volume precision strike, with up to 154 Tomahawk and Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles;
Sustained Special Forces operations, to include insertion, extraction, and support of 66 Special Forces personnel, conditioned and ready, with onboard periods much longer than on SSNs;
Command center for mission planning and execution;
Capacity for conducting other SSN missions, such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (ISRT); anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare and mine warfare;
High-data-rate connectivity and joint command/control capability with a “Virginia-class” advanced SSN radio room and ISR suite;
70 percent operational availability by using two crews ñ to achieve a continuous, 2.65-ship deployed presence in support of CINC mission requirements;
20 times the payload of an SSN, with large ocean interfaces (22 seven-foot diameter launching tubes, two for SOF lock-out), opportunity for payload experimentation and development.
Payload
Stealth, endurance, and agility have long enabled nuclear-powered submarines to take sensors and precision weapons into the fray with little or no logistical support. However, in spite of their unmatched supremacy beneath the world’s oceans and their ability to strike with impunity with dozens of cruise missiles, the greatest limitation of today’s attack submarines is payload. As new off-board vehicles such as the Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS) are introduced to the fleet, the cost of transporting and deploying these systems will be counted in terms of weapons left behind on the pier.
Even beyond its baseline mission capabilities, SSGN offers significant opportunities to develop and test new weapon delivery systems, sensors, and operational concepts that could further transform naval warfare. Two examples already envisioned are encapsulated launch of a variety of tactical munitions and deployment of large unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) and off-board sensors. Encapsulated launch will send weapons to the surface for dry-launching, using a standardized buoyant capsule and a common interface for loading and communications. This modular approach to payloads will even allow use of “off-the-shelf” weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles, and decoys in support of joint forces. And, by developing large UUVs that make full use of the seven-foot tubes, they can surpass the range, endurance, and payload of small surveillance platforms and take on new missions - even offensive ones.
Strike Capabilities
The SSGN will bring a new dimension to strike warfare. Currently, SSNs with up to two-dozen Tomahawks usually launch missiles in salvos of three or four (16 maximum), while on SSGN a salvo of 20 missiles will represent less than 15 percent of the full load of 140 or 154 missiles. One might ask where the nearly 600 Tomahawks needed to fully arm four SSGNs will come from. The answer is ñ the Submarine Force. Existing submarine torpedo-tube launched (TTL) TLAMs will be converted for vertical launch to provide the required load-outs. Obviously, the number of TLAMs available to deploying SSNs will decrease as a result, but if you consider that a missile on an SSGN is deployed 70 percent of the time, the overall TLAM inventory immediately available to the CINCs will increase by about 50 to 60 percent. This shift of weapons will also open up some room in SSN torpedo rooms for more torpedoes or alternative payloads, like LMRS and other unmanned vehicles.
Special Operations Forces (SOF)
SEALs have operated from submarines for years. Conversion of the SSBNs USS James K. Polk (SSN-645) and USS Kamehameha (SSN-642) - since inactivated - gave us the space for embarked SEALs to work out and maintain their conditioning for extended periods and to deploy with their equipment. SSGN will not only restore the force’s large, sustainable SOF capability, but will include significant command and control capabilities well beyond those of previous boats. With a dedicated command center and a “Virginia-class” communication system, SSGN will be able to control a Special Forces campaign over a period of months from her covert position. Once on scene, SSGN will deploy Special Forces submerged, either from the SEAL delivery vehicles (SDVs) housed in the dry-deck shelters, or in the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) mini-subs, where SEALs will travel to locations over 125 nm away in a dry environment. SSGNs should prove to be the most advanced covert Special Forces platforms ever.
Mission Agility
The SSGN’s inherent stealth and endurance - as with all nuclear-powered submarines - will enable it to conduct many traditional SSN surveillance or sea control missions, even though it will be optimized for strike and SOF because of its immense payload capacity. In fact, it will be a necessary and complementary requirement for SSGNs to conduct surveillance of enemy activities ashore and at sea while on patrol. To illustrate, consider an SSGN operating in a strike launch basket, deploying and recovering SEALs and performing coastal surveillance. This ship could break off, if required, and engage a hostile diesel submarine to protect allied ships, or deploy LMRS or other mine reconnaissance assets to support theater mine warfare operations. The bottom line is that the mission agility of our nuclear-powered submarines and their broadly trained crews makes them capable of nearly any “submarine” mission.
Concept of Operations
Dual-crewed SSGNs will deliver these extraordinary warfighting capabilities tothe CINCs with unrivaled efficiency. SSGNs will have a deployment cyclesimilar to TRIDENT SSBNs, with every other crew turnover at a forward-deployed site to achieve a higher operational availability and in-theater presence. A strong, efficient, and well-established infrastructure is required to make this work, and we already have that in the TRIDENT program. Since the TRIDENT maintenance and support systems are located in Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, it follows that the most cost-effective option for homeporting SSGN will be at those bases. Currently, if four SSGN conversions are funded, it is expected that two would be stationed on each coast to balance support to the EUCOM, CENTCOM and PACOM theaters. Locations for the forward-deployed turnovers will depend on where they are operating, but could include Guam, La Maddalena, Italy, and Diego Garcia, as examples.