MILNET: U.S.S. Virginia Class Attack Submarine

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Designed with the first decade of the 21st century in mind, the U.S. Navy is building the Virginia class SSN submarine. Similar to the U.S.S. Seawolf, the Virginia class was designed to take on threats that are more relative to the kinds of threats in the post cold war world. The Seawolf was designed for pursuit of Soviet SLBM submarines with an adjunct role as a covert underwater delivery vehicle for submarine launched cruise missiles as well as covert troops such as seals. The Seawolf was also reputed as having clandestine surviellance equipment used for SIGINT gathering.

There are three subs planned currently:

One should note that the U.S. Navy has provided a means to keep both naval sub builders alive by having both building these submarines. The result should be a faster build of the subs, and the two shipyards will be forced to coordinate parts and major armature production in order to remain within the budget.

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