"New Look at America’s Next Ballistic Missile Submarine" Topic

"These photos offer a new look at both the in progress bow and stern section, with the stern due to house the both the propulsion system and the X-shaped stern control planes. Both of these sections appear to be inside General Dynamics Electric Boat's South Yard Assembly Building or another large construction hall at their primary submarine yard in Groton, Connecticut.

Naval News has previously reported on the arrival of the "Atlas" dry dock meant to service the Columbia-class SSBNs in January of 2026. The continual delivery of components, entire sections of the submarine, and supporting infrastructure suggests that the construction process continues to rapidly progress prior to the delivery of SSBN-826 herself sometime in early 2029.

The Columbia-class of SSBNs remains amongst the Navy's top priority as the class continues to see investments, with the next 5 boats in the class (hulls 4-8) procured at a rate of one per year over the next 5 fiscal years, for a total cost of $62 USD billion dollars dedicated towards the missile boats…"

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Armand

PLEASE stop naming capital ships after fat ass Senators and Congress critters. It's disgusting naming such important ships after those …

Having said that, at that cost, I hope they will fly. That's how I designed them in 6th Grade.

Go back to the naming conventions we had in WW2, the Big One, and name them for important AWI and ACW battles. Heck. Even battles that the traitorous slaveholders won. American blood is American blood, after all. 🤷
States, great! WW2 aircraft carriers? Even better!

I used to design submarine aircraft carriers and compressed air powered submarines when I was in 6th grade. Also I was fascinated with steam engines for a while and drew them, just because. Always wanted a Stanley Steamer.

Do these have the capability to launch drones?

"Designing new submarines with the native capability to launch drones is widely considered an excellent idea and is already becoming a core priority for global naval forces. Traditionally, submarines operated in absolute isolation, limited by what they could hear via sonar or see through a periscope. By integrating unmanned systems, future submarines are being transformed into force-multiplying motherships capable of extending their senses across multiple domains."

"Strategic Advantages:

Massive Sensor Extension: Drones provide eyes and ears well beyond the submarine's organic horizon. A sub-launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can fly above the surface to spot distant targets, while an Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) can scout ahead into shallow waters or deep trenches.

Preservation of Stealth: Active sonar can betray a submarine's exact coordinates. By launching an expendable UUV to broadcast active sonar, the host submarine can remain completely passive and hidden while the drone flushes out adversary targets.

Cross-Domain Targeting: Sub-launched UAVs can relay real-time telemetry back to the boat. This allows submarines to guide long-range torpedoes or cruise missiles toward targets completely out of the submarine's direct sensor range.Seabed Warfare and Sabotage Defense: With critical infrastructure like data cables and energy pipelines vulnerable to tampering, deployable drones allow a submarine to inspect, map, and defend the ocean floor without putting the primary hull at risk."

There are issues, but many are being solved and multiple countries, including the U.S. are working hard on this.

Unless we convert them to battleships….

Flying battleships.

"Submarines equipped with drone-launching capabilities—ranging from underwater UUVs to aerial UAVs—are rapidly evolving. Notable operational and developmental platforms include U.S. Navy Virginia-class and French Rubis-class submarines, which successfully launch and recover both Yellow Moray underwater drones and aerial systems.

Military forces and defense contractors are actively deploying and designing submarines specifically built to act as "motherships" or equipped to unleash specialized drone swarms:"

"U.S. Navy Virginia-class Submarines: These crewed submarines successfully deployed and recovered Yellow Moray (based on the REMUS 600) unmanned underwater vehicles directly through standard torpedo tubes. The U.S. also routinely tests submarine-launched aerial drones, including the Blackwing UAS, which is capable of launching from fully submerged platforms.

French Rubis-class Submarines: The French Navy successfully conducted experiments where their submarines launched an aerial UAV via a protective canister, allowing the drone to inflate and take off while the sub remained at periscopic depth."

New & EmergingDesigns:

Boeing Orca (XLUUV): An extra-large, autonomous uncrewed submarine drone that serves as a massive floating "mother ship" capable of dispensing mines, deploying smaller drones, and undertaking monthslong missions independent of a crewed vessel.

Lockheed Martin Lamprey MMAUV: A plug-and-play autonomous underwater vehicle that hitches a ride on existing manned submarines. Once deployed, it can independently launch torpedoes or small aerial UAVs into the air for surveillance.

Datum Submarine Sinarit: An uncrewed 37-foot strike submarine built with interchangeable payload sections specifically designed to deploy one-way-attack FPV drones, cruise missiles, and torpedoes while entirely submerged.

Saab Autonomous Ocean Core & A26 Submarine:
Sweden's Saab designed their future A26 (Blekinge-class) submarines around a multi-mission portal that silently launches Autonomous Ocean Drones for reconnaissance and seabed warfare"

The Columbia is a replacement for the Ohio. It's a boomer, or SLBM carrier. The job is to go deep and wait for doomsday to launch its payload. Drones wouldn't really make sense for that job. They make excellent sense for an attack boat, like the Virginia. They could even be equipped with anti-air drones, which would give an attack boat a measure of protection from saw aircraft and helicopters.