The Navy Has Just Launched a New Nuclear Submarine of Its Most Advanced Class: The Mighty USS Idaho

The Navy will soon have a new Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, the future USS Idaho (SSN 799). The naval service just launched it in Connecticut’s Thames River. The float-off ceremony, which took place on August 6, marked a significant milestone for the project.

Although the builders installed the keel in 2020, the submarine is finally in the water. Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat, the two contractors behind its construction, will continue their work. This time, they’ll install the final equipment and conduct a series of tests before the critical certification phase.

USS Idaho (SSN 799) to Be Commissioned in 2025

If all goes according to plan, the USS Idaho will start operations in the spring of 2025. With this move, the U.S. hopes to strengthen its naval force. It currently has about 20 Virginia-class submarines, a dozen under construction, and several active units of other classes, such as the Seawolfs.

The country no longer builds diesel submarines. There was a time when such gasoline-powered vessels were a reality, but that ended in 2007 with the decommissioning of the USS Dolphin (AGSS-555). Today, all the country’s manned undersea vessels are nuclear-powered.

One of the nuclear submarines’ most apparent advantages is their ability to maintain a reduced acoustic signal. Virginia-class submarines are notable for their enhanced stealth capability, which allows them to remain undetected—or at least that’s the idea—by enemy ships’ detection instruments.

The USS Idaho will have a 210 MW S9G nuclear reactor and an auxiliary diesel engine. Each of these alternatives promises to generate enough electrical power to operate the pumpjet propulsion system developed by BAE System. It won’t have a traditional blade propeller system.

The Navy explains that these advanced submarines have unified modular masts. In addition to the snorkel mast, there are photonic, communications, radar, and electronic warfare masts. An interesting point is that submarines of this class use Xbox controllers to control the photonic mast.

One of the project’s goals was to reduce costs. To accomplish this, the submarine builders used a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. They also used properly certified off-the-shelf hardware for computing and networking elements, saving millions of dollars.

In addition, USS Idaho’s engineers have designed it with an open architecture that they promise will allow it to receive upgrades to keep it current over time. Like other submarines in its class, this one will be able to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles, UGM-84 Harpoon missiles, and Mk-48 torpedoes.

This article was written by Javier Marquez and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Images | Marina de Estados Unidos (Wikimedia Commons) | General Dynamics a través de NAVSEA | General Dynamics a través de USS Idaho Commissioning Committee

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