Few war products combine the union of technology, strategy, and raw industrial brawn like America’s nuclear attack submarines in the U.S. Navy. Years ago, they started cruising the ocean bed—steel phantoms and cables whose terror is America’s security, intel gathering, and quietly reminding any possible enemy that American naval power runs deep. Following their transformation from the Seawolf and Los Angeles classes into the Virginia and the SSN(X) of the next generation, it shows how the Navy has continually adjusted in order to stay a step ahead of every new threat lurking beneath the horizon.
It begins with the Seawolf class, itself born of the final nervous years of the Cold War. While the Soviet Union started to roll out quieter, more deadly subs, the U.S. Navy needed a solution—a vessel that would outrun, outfight, and outwit whatever it came across in the deep. That solution was the Seawolf: an engineering marvel, faster and quieter than any of its counterparts.
It carried eight torpedo tubes and up to 50 weapons, all of which were so quiet that it could pass silently through the ocean almost unseen. The final sub in the three-ship class, Jimmy Carter, was even extended another hundred feet to fit stealth gear and allow for missions still classified today.
But fate had other plans. The Cold War ended too early for the Seawolf ever to truly find its place. When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the justification for a fleet of nearly 30 Seawolfs vanished overnight. The program was immediately cut back to three boats at more than $3 billion per vessel. What was once a Cold War symbol of dominance became a costly reminder of how quickly strategy reverses itself in a shifting universe.
The reverberations didn’t stop with the Navy. The abrupt slowdown in submarine construction hit the U.S. industry hard. Large shipyards such as Electric Boat and Newport News had production dwindle, skilled tradespeople were let go, and hundreds of smaller vendors went out of business. In the 1980s, over 17,000 firms contributed to producing submarines. By 2017, that figure had dropped to approximately 3,000. The consequence was an industrial hole that continues to plague the Navy’s ability to construct and sustain its undersea forces today.
In trying to find its way back, the Navy created the Virginia class, a ship that was designed to be handy, affordable, and easier to upgrade. It was not intended to be powerful or speedy—it was intended to be smart. Virginia’s modular construction allowed for easier upgrades to be added, and its open architecture design allowed it to be able to perform future missions. It lacks the antique periscopes, opting for digital photonics masts instead. Later models brought with them vast improvements: Block III added a new payload system and sonar array, and Block V added the Virginia Payload Module, increasing it by 28 Tomahawk missiles. With each revision, Virginia earned its spot in a world that demanded capability as much as it demanded power.
America’s submarine builders are still in a hurry, however. The 1990s’ delays in production and losses in personnel have caught up with them. Even today, the Navy’s goal of constructing two Virginia-class submarines every year has been difficult to meet. Bottlenecks in maintainability have risen to the point where roughly a third of the fleet of attack submarines can be withdrawn from service at any given time. The issue isn’t a scarcity of missions—it’s a shortage of able hands and shipyard capacity to meet demand.
Now the Navy is reaching for the horizon with the SSN(X)—the next generation of undersea dominance. Dubbed the “apex predator” of the ocean, the new generation will combine the best of everything that came before: the speed and attacking ability of the Seawolf, the stealth and sensors of the Virginia, and the long life of the Columbia-class. It’s being designed to be faster, stealthier, and more weapons-capable than anything currently in the fleet.
Planned features are a bigger hull, new propulsion technology, fourth-generation sonar equipment, and complete integration with unmanned undersea vehicles. Engineers are even considering what possibilities may lie ahead for future energy-based defense capabilities. The SSN(X) isn’t merely a sub—it’s the beginning of how the Navy will engage and survive in the oceans of the decades ahead.
And, naturally, it comes at a price. Initial estimates place each SSN(X) at around $6 billion—nearly twice the cost of a Virginia. That’s a big expense for a Navy already endeavoring to spread the cost of the massive Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program and an overseas deployment schedule. It foresees a slow ramp-up over the 2030s, finally going on to build a 66 to 78-boat attack submarine force in the 2040s. Reaching that number will take more than dollars, however. It will take a rebuilt industrial base capable of sustaining the effort.
The Pentagon has already started laying the foundation. Billions of dollars have been spent on upgrading shipyards, refurbishing dry docks, and ramping up training programs to train a new generation of shipbuilders. The Defense Production Act has been utilized to fortify supply lines and to ensure the Navy is able to fulfill greater domestic and foreign commitments.
Ultimately, the history of U.S. attack submarines is truly one of adaptation—of merging innovation and need. The Seawolf revealed what was possible when only performance was the objective. Virginia demonstrated the merit of affordability and maneuverability. And now, the SSN(X) will integrate those two realms into one powerful, stealthy, and sustainable platform.
For the Navy, the mission never changes: to stay ahead, invisible but everywhere, masters of the dark. As technology, tactics, and threats evolve, so will the submarines upon which America’s quiet strength rides out to sea.