Key Parts and Summary on Virginia-Class Program – The U.S. Navy is upgrading its most advanced attack submarines, the Virginia-class, to be more lethal with the addition of the Virginia Payload Module, which significantly boosts their missile capacity.
-This upgrade is critical as the Navy faces a capability gap with the retirement of its Ohio-class guided-missile submarines. However, the entire Virginia-class program, like many other Navy shipbuilding projects, is a “mess,” plagued by severe delays and cost overruns.
-This dysfunction in the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base creates a significant national security risk as China’s submarine fleet continues its rapid expansion.
The Virginia-Class Submarine Challenge Is Real
The U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarines are a five-block class of nuclear-powered attack subs that also have a cruise-missile capability for striking land and sea targets. They are, by design, a flexible class of submarines, capable of conducting operations in littoral waters close to shore as well as carrying out blue-water missions in the open ocean. Given their advanced nature, they’re capable of intelligence gathering, too.
If all goes according to plan, the class will also serve as an interim solution for the Royal Australian Navy, a stop-gap measure until the Australians are able to secure the upcoming AUKUS-class nuclear-powered attack submarines.
Block VI Virginia-Class
Each of the Navy’s Virginia-class Block VI submarines will see a Virginia Payload Module section mated to their hulls – in essence giving them an extra hull section – thanks to Multiple All-up-round Canisters, or MACs, which boost the submarines’ missile capacity significantly. This capacity will be critical for the Navy’s undersea land-strike capabilities as the service retires the older Ohio-class guided-missile submarines.
The Block VI Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines will serve as a stepping stone for the Navy as it develops the next-generation nuclear attack submarine, the design of which has yet to be finalized. The successor class will likely incorporate and build upon several of the technologies featured on the Virginia-class.
The Block VI Virginias are not the final iteration of the class; the Block VII Virginias will be 25 meters longer and displace an additional 2,300 tons compared to their predecessors.
“Block VI continues that trend of delivering increasingly capable and lethal platforms block to block,” Rear Admiral Dave Goggins, program executive officer for submarines, said during a webinar for the Naval Submarine League, an annual symposium.
“Block VI will focus on building upon the acoustic superiority advancements of [the USS South Dakota, SSN 790],” Admiral Goggins explained. “The key thing here is to really enable that organic subsea, seabed warfare capability for the first time.”
Though the Navy remains on the cutting edge of undersea warfare and maritime nuclear propulsion, that decades-long lead has slowly eroded thanks to technological advances made by the Navy’s adversaries, primarily the Russian Navy and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Goggins explained that the lessons learned from the Block VI Virginia-class submarines will inform the design of future submarines. The “key thing is the capabilities chosen for Block VI also have to dual purpose of improving the VCS [Virginia-class submarine] performance and also proving out technologies that will serve as the backbone for our future SSNX design,” the admiral said.
“We will spend the next year evaluating the maturity [and] feasibility of these capabilities followed by a down-select next year. That allows us to mature the technology and develop the required line of paperwork in support of the Block VI contract.”
Snapping Up Funding
General Dynamics Electric Boat, which builds the submarines, recently won nearly $1.9 billion in addition funding from the Department of Defense in a contract modification for “for long lead time material and preliminary construction efforts associated with Virginia-class Block VI submarines,” the Department of Defense explained in a contract award statement late last month.
“This contract modification allows for the acquisition of critical material and components for Virginia-class submarines that require substantial lead time to manufacture and deliver. It sends a continued demand signal, supporting supplier investment in the capacity and materials needed to achieve our required production volume,” said Mark Rayha, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, in the General Dynamics statement announcing the contract award. “Consistent funding and support such as this contract modification is essential for the shipyards to achieve the high-rate production of submarines the Navy needs.”
General Dynamics Electric Boat has further secured several additional tranches of funding. But despite the financial boost, some of the Navy’s top sailors and civilian officials have recently been vocal about their view that American shipbuilding is in dire straits.
Virginia-Class in 4 Words: Program Chaos and Dysfunction
During an open hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee last month, the Secretary of the Navy admitted that construction delays are delaying the entry into service of some of the biggest, most expensive pieces of equipment in the world: the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines.
“All of our programs are a mess, to be honest,” the Navy Secretary John C. Phelan told lawmakers. “We are behind schedule, over budget,” Phelan added. He explained that “our best-performing [program] is six months late and 57 percent over budget… So, we are working very hard to get these fixed. The Navy has begun to make some rapid changes at the public shipyards, and we’ve been talking with Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls.”
What Happens Now?
Building the world’s most advanced submarines involves challenges that are incredibly complex, even with the additional funding allocated to the submarines’ manufacturers. Whether those problems can be rectified in a timely manner remains to be seen.
Still, as of now at least, the Virginia-class submarines are among the most advanced subs ever built.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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