A U.S. shipyard has cut first steel for the first in a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic missiles submarines. Huntington Ingalls Industries has begun construction of USS Columbia, lead ship of the class set to enter service in 2031. Columbia (illustrated in the above image) and her sister ships will form the seaborne leg of the so-called U.S. nuclear triad, sailing the oceans of the world undetected for months at a time to form a powerful deterrent against surprise nuclear attack.



The steel cutting ceremony took place on May 23rd, when a plasma-burning machine cut the first steel plate to be used in Columbia herself. According HII , the work is being started three weeks ahead of schedule. The submarine will mark the first time the shipyard is using all-digital blueprints to aid in construction.

The ceremonial steel-cutting of the first Columbia-class nuclear submarine.

The U.S. Navy currently maintains 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. Built between 1981 and 1997, the submarines are 560 feet long and displace 18,750 tons submerged, making them among the largest submarines in the world. Each submarine is armed with 20 Trident D-5 submarine launched ballistic missiles, each of which can carry up to eight warheads . Each warhead in turn has an explosive yield between 100 kilotons (100,000 tons of TNT) and 455 kilotons.

Several ballistic missile submarines are at sea at any particular time, and each submarine has two sets of crews, known as the Blue and Gold crews, to ensure maximum time at sea. This ensures that as many nuclear-tipped missiles are hidden under the ocean as possible. The subs ensure that no matter how successful a strike against U.S. nuclear forces on land hundreds of missiles will remain ready at sea, capable of striking back and avenging a surprise attack. In that sense they are a powerful deterrent against what experts used to call a “nuclear Pearl Harbor”.

The new Columbia class is meant to take over as the Ohios age out, replacing 14 Ohio submarines with 12 Columbias. (The ships are named after the District of Columbia, as well as the historical feminine personification of U.S.A .) The new boats, as submarines are referred to informally, will be the same length as the Ohios but a foot wider. They will also displace 2,000 more tons than previous submarines.

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The Columbias will each have 16 launch tubes for Trident D-5 missiles, eight less than the Ohio-class was originally built with. Four tubes per ship were permanently sealed in order to comply with arms control agreements. The ships will have 42-year service lives, meaning many will serve to 2070 and beyond, and will not require refueling of the nuclear reactor for the life of the boat.

In April U.S. Naval Institute News reported design work for the submarines was 97 percent complete and construction drawing work was 43 percent complete. According to a Congressional Research Service report the twelve submarines will cost $109 billion dollars, and Columbia herself will conduct her first nuclear deterrence patrol in 2031.

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