U.S. first Columbia-class nuclear submarine will cost $ 8.5 billion

By TOC

WASHINGTON – The first Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine to be developed in the United States, equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, will cost about $ 8.5 billion, learned BulgarianMilitary.com according to documents considered in the US Congress.

United States begins production of the new Columbia-class nuclear submarines
Photo credit: GD

Funds for the purchase of the first such submarine have already been allocated, its construction is underway. A contribution was also made to the construction of a second such submarine.

These strategic missile carriers should replace the outdated Ohio class submarines. A total of 12 Columbia-class submarines capable of carrying 16 Trident II D5 ICBMs with MIRVs are to be built and deployed to the US Navy by 2031. The submarines will replace the 14 obsolete Ohio-class strategic submarines currently in the US nuclear triad, each carrying 20 Trident II D5 missiles.

It is expected that six submarines will be deployed at the Bangor Pacific base, Washington state, and six more at King’s Bay, Georgia, on the Atlantic. On combat patrols in the world’s oceans, there will be at least eight such submarines simultaneously. The rest will undergo ongoing maintenance at the bases.

According to Congress documents, a total of $ 109.8 billion is expected to be spent on the submarine replacement program in the coming years.

The advanced strategic nuclear submarines of the Columbia class are designed for 42 years of service. Construction is carried out at the shipyards of General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding.

The US Navy emphasizes that the program for the construction of new Columbia-class missile carriers is currently a priority for the US strategic nuclear forces.

U.S. Congress also has questions

The United States Congress has its questions, according to the American portal USNI News. For example, whether the situation with Covid-19 will not significantly impact plans to develop the program. Meaningful questions that Congress also asks are: how accurate are the costs; whether they will not affect other fleet costs; what the likelihood is that prices will increase and whether there will be no industrial problems, knowing that the United States is currently building Virginia-class submarines.

Moscow is not sleeping either

On the other side of the planet, Russia is also developing its new submarines and missiles to the arm. At the end of last year, we announced a new missile Russian test, which is anti-submarine. The newest Russian frigate “Admiral Kasatonov” has performed the Barents Sea waters tests, as we reported earlier this year.

So far, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation’s press service does not provide information on the type and model of the missile but only concludes that the test was successful, as part of a series of qualified Russian tests fleet in the area. Military analysts suggest that the Russian missile is an entirely new development of the military-industrial complex. According to a Russian MoD press release, a Russian nuclear submarine strictly monitored the launch, movement of the missile, and the target’s hitting.

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