The National Interest, a U.S. diplomatic and security journal, published an article about the U.S. military’s Ohio-class submarines.
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) was built to destroy cities and military installations in the event of nuclear war, or more specifically, to deter adversaries from waging war. However, at the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Navy decided that it did not need all 18 submerged Doomsday Knights for its nuclear deterrence mission.
The Navy initially intended to scrap the four oldest large submarines, but later but opted instead to overhaul and convert them to fire Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAMs) at a cost of $700-900 million each. These ships were named Ohio-class cruise missile submarines (SSGN) and were designed to conduct conventional attacks against targets on land. The USS Ohio and USS Floyd began nuclear fueling, overhaul and armament upgrades in 2003 and were recommissioned in 2006, while the USS Michigan and USS Floyd were commissioned in 2008.
The Ohio-class cruise missile submarine has more conventional firepower than any ship of its class, as its 24 missile tubes (88 inches in diameter) were originally designed to carry the massive Trident ballistic missile. Twenty-two of them were converted to Tomahawk tubes, each with seven missiles, for a total of 154 Tomahawk missiles, all of which can be launched from underwater in less than six minutes. This is a heavier cruise missile armament than the entire surface task force.
Tomahawk missiles cost more than $1.5 million each and are capable of being guided by a global positioning system to deliver 1,000-pound warheads to land targets thousands of miles away. This means, by the way, that the Ohio-class cruise missile submarines carry well over $200 million in missiles when fully loaded.
The Ohio-class cruise missile submarine is also a multi-mission submarine. The remaining two launch tubes have been modified to deploy more than 60 Navy SEALs for special operations. These tubes can also launch underwater unmanned vehicles (UUVs), SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) mini-subs, sonar buoys and other in-water sensors.
In 2010, the USS Ohio, USS Florida and USS Michigan all participated in forceful operations against Communist missile tests, surfacing almost simultaneously off Diego Garcia, the Philippines and South Korea, respectively. In 2011, in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn, the USS Florida nuclear submarine fired 93 missiles at Libyan air defenses, hitting all but three of them. The missiles helped clear the way for anti-Gadhafi coalition warplanes to begin operations in Libyan airspace. This marked the first time an Ohio-class submarine fired in anger.
Photo: USS Florida cruise missile nuclear submarine spotted at Diego Garcia base 2010
Photo: USS Michigan cruise missile submarine spotted in Pusan 2010
What is the purpose of these behemoths that fire cruise missiles? Why not use surface warships to launch long-range Tomahawk missiles, or even send in naval aircraft to use the much cheaper precision-guided missiles? Quite simply, stealthy cruise missile submarines can approach enemy coastlines undetected, allowing them to strike targets farther inland and conduct massive missile strikes with far less exposure than surface ships or air strike options.
Nuclear-powered submarines are extremely difficult to detect and track because of the very limited noise generated by their nuclear reactors and their ability to remain submerged for the entire duration of their long-range missions. An adversary would be hard pressed to detect an Ohio-class submarine before it could launch a missile – and after the missile launch, the submarine could dive into deep waters and evade retaliatory action silently.
In fact, a contributor to the National Interest has described how the Ohio-class cruise missile submarine “kicked open the door” by suppressing anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles in a first strike, exploiting gaps in the adversary’s defenses and paving the way for aircraft and surface ships – a role the USS Florida played in the Libya intervention.
However, the firepower of the Ohio-class cruise missile submarine will remain in the U.S. Navy for only another decade or so, when the entire Ohio-class fleet will be gradually replaced by the new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. The traditional land attack role will be assumed by a large fleet of Virginia-class attack submarines that can be equipped with Virginia payload modules that can launch up to 40 Tomahawk missiles per submarine. While this means it would take four Virginia-class submarines to equal the firepower of one Ohio-class, it would distribute that firepower more widely across the fleet and would likely prove sufficient in most cases, barring World War III.
Until then, however, four Ohio-class cruise missile submarines will remain the most heavily armed cruise missile submarines in the world and will provide a potentially devastating tool to evade and counter adversaries that rely on a counter-intervention/area denial strategy.
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