Key Point and That Unfixable Problem – Had the US Navy built its originally planned fleet of 29 Seawolf-class submarines in the 1990s, instead of just three, America’s undersea dominance today would likely be significantly greater.
-These advanced hunter-killer submarines, lauded as the fastest and quietest of their era with substantial firepower, were curtailed due to post-Cold War budget cuts and a perceived diminished threat.
-A full Seawolf fleet could have provided a more robust global presence, spurred further technological advancements, maintained a stronger shipbuilding industrial base, and left the US Navy in a better position to counter current challenges posed by Russian and Chinese naval expansion.
What If the Navy Had Built 29 Seawolf-Class Submarines?
When the first of the Seawolf submarines (SSN-21) was launched in 1997, it was lauded as the most advanced undersea boat of its type.
At the time, the Navy described the Seawolf as “the world’s fastest, quietest submarine,” and many analysts believed it was the most effective attack submarine ever built.
The Seawolf was a submarine killer capable of performing many highly specialized missions. But the Navy’s problem was that it was 1997, Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia, and presenting himself as then-President Bill Clinton’s best friend.
As a colleague wrote about the submarine at the time, the Navy had difficulties singing the praises “of a $2.4 billion-a-copy anti-ship weapon that lost its military rationale with the Berlin Wall’s fall, and that even its sponsors say was needed mostly to save U.S. jobs?”
The program ended up being cancelled after only three boats were constructed, which has led to speculation about what the impact would have been had the US decided to go ahead and build all 29 of the Seawolf class.
Power Projection and Seawolf-Class
Projecting into a “what if” mode, it is likely that if the US Navy had built all 29 Seawolf-class boats, the US submarine fleet would have been significantly larger and more powerful than it is today. This could have changed the world’s balance of power at the time.
However, the original plan for a fleet of 29 was very ambitious and would also have had a very high cost.
In the end, timing is everything, and the end of the Cold War and the Clinton Administration’s position about a “peace dividend” created budget constraints, leading to the cancellation of most of the boats initially planned to be built.
Surveying all the available data on these boats and what they were designed for, one can project the impact from a fleet of 29 instead of just the three that were built.
-The Seawolf-class was designed to be a powerful and versatile submarine, so a total complement of 29 would have substantially increased the Navy’s ability to conduct various operations, such as intelligence gathering, surveillance, and even combat.
-In addition, with a larger fleet of these attack submarines, which carried considerably more weaponry than the Los Angeles-class, the Navy could have maintained a greater presence in different regions of the world. This could have improved the Navy’s ability to respond to crises and deter potential adversaries.
-The Seawolf class was a cutting-edge design at the time, and the development and production of a large number of these submarines would have likely spurred further technological advancements in submarine warfare, potentially leading to even more powerful and advanced submarines in the future. The smaller Virginia-class might never have been built
Industry and Fleet Development
The cost of building 29 Seawolf submarines would have been immense, but the economic benefits of the program, in terms of jobs and related industries, would have potentially offset that same cost.
Fast forwarding into the present day, there is every chance that the US Navy would not find itself in the position it is now where is progressively losing its edge in superiority over the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
The Seawolf class was also originally intended to replace the aging Los Angeles-class, so had the entire Seawolf fleet been built this would have meant a more modern and capable submarine force, potentially shifting the balance of power in favor of the United States.
Major US military engagements like Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the current conflict in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels would have benefited from this larger and more heavily armed attack submarine.
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
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