Akula-class sub
Posted on 07/04/2004 7:05:19 AM PDT by knighthawk
Ping
The Russians have nothing that comes close to Seawolf.
Akula-class sub
Interesting story. By this time in our history, our biggest enemy was the acquisition bureaucracy in the Pentagon. The Soviets could steal our technology, adapt and produce it faster than we could get it into production ourselves.
Sure am glad the cold war ended.
When was this written? Stupid Pravda. Akula's not the most recent class of Russian subs. They're around the same age as our LA class.
Also, it fails to mention that the reason they're STARTING to catch up with us is cause of Toshiba, who sold the secrets of our submarine propellor technology to anyone with enough money for it, including the Russians.
I guess that'd be a good thing if we had more than 3 of them in the US Navy.
Launching of the USS Virginia scheduled for Oct 23 at NAS Norfolk.
LOL, sad but true...
True enough, but Akula and "Akula Improved" were coming off the ways in 1986.
SSN-21 wasn't going to be ready for another decade.
NSSN VIRGINIA CLASS ATTACK SUBMARINE, USA
The Virginia Class New Attack Submarine is an advanced stealth multi-mission nuclear powered submarine for deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and for littoral (shallow water) operations. Although the Seawolf submarine was developed to provide an eventual replacement for the US Navy Los Angeles Class submarines in combating the Soviet forces, the prohibitive unit cost and changing strategic requirements led to the US Navy defining a smaller new generation attack submarine.
The Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, Connecticut is the lead design authority for the Virginia Class. General Dynamics Electric Boat is constructing the first of class, Virginia (SSN 774), which is to be delivered in 2004 and commissioned in 2006, and the third vessel, Hawaii SSN 776 (commission in 2008). Virginia was laid down in September 1999 and was christened in August 2003. Northrop Grumman Newport News will construct the second, Texas SSN 775 (commission in 2007) and fourth, North Carolina SSN 777 (commission in 2009). The US Navy's total requirement is for 30 of the class. The USN placed a bulk-buy contract for the first five ships and, in January 2004, placed a multi-year contract for the following five.
DESIGN
The engineering teams and the design and build teams at Electric Boat in partnership with the Naval Sea Systems Command, NAVSEA, of the US Navy have used extensive CAD/CAE simulation systems to optimise the design of the submarine. The hull size is length 377ft by beam 34ft and the displacement is 7,300t dived, which is smaller than the more expensive Seawolf Attack Submarine with displacement 9137t dived.
The hull structure contains structurally integrated enclosures, which accommodate standard 19in and 24in width equipment for ease of installation, repair and upgrade of the submarine's systems. The submarine is fitted with modular isolated deck structures, for example the submarine's Command Center will be installed as one single unit resting on cushioned mounting points. The submarine's control suite is equipped with computer touch screens. The submarine's steering and diving control is via a four-button, two-axis joystick.
The noise level of the Virginia is equal to that of the US Navy Seawolf, SSN 21, with a lower acoustic signature than the Russian Improved Akula Class and Russian Fourth Generation Attack Submarines. To achieve this low acoustic signature, the Virginia incorporates newly designed anechoic coatings, isolated deck structures and a new design of propulsor.
Goodrich is supplying High Frequency Sail Array acoustic windows and composite sonar domes.
COMMAND SYSTEM
The C3I (Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence) system is being developed by a team led by Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Undersea Systems (NE&SS-Undersea Systems) of Manassas, Virginia. It will integrate all of the vessel's systems - sensors, countermeasures, navigation, weapon control, and will be based on open system architecture (OSA) with Q-70 Colour Common Display Consoles. Weapon control will be provided by Raytheon with a derivative of the CCS Mk 2 combat system.
WEAPON SYSTEMS
The submarine is equipped with twelve vertical missile launch tubes and four 533mm torpedo tubes. The vertical launching system has the capacity to launch 16 Tomahawk submarine launched cruise missiles (SLCM) in a single salvo. There is capacity for up to 26 Mk 48 ADCAP Mod 6 heavyweight torpedoes and Sub Harpoon anti-ship missiles to be fired from the 21in torpedo tubes. Mk 60 CAPTOR mines may also be fitted.
Virginia will be fitted with the AN/WLY-1 acoustic countermeasures system being developed by Northrop Grumman, which provides range and bearing data, and the mast-mounted AN/BLQ-10 electronic support measures (ESM) system from Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems.
An integral lock out/lock-in chamber is incorporated into the hull for special operations. The chamber can host a mini-submarine, such as Northrop Grumman's Oceanic and Naval Systems Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), to deliver special warfare forces such as Navy Sea Air Land, SEAL, teams or Marine reconnaissance units for counter-terrorism or localised conflict operations.
SENSORS
The Virginia Class sonar suite will include bow-mounted active and passive array, wide aperture passive array on flank, high-frequency active arrays on keel and fin, TB 16 towed array and the Lockheed Martin TB-29A thinline towed array, with a variant of AN/BQQ-10 sonar processing system. A BPS 16 navigation radar, operating at I-band is fitted.
The submarines will have two Kollmorgen AN/BVS-1 Photonic Masts, rather than optical periscopes. Sensors mounted on the non-hull penetrating Photonic Mast include LLTV (low light TV), thermal imager and laser rangefinder. The mast is the Universal Modular Mast developed by Kollmorgen and its Italian subsidiary, Calzoni.
The Boeing LMRS Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System will be deployed on the Virginia Class. LMRS includes two 6m autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles, an 18m robotic recovery arm and support electronics.
PROPULSION
The main propulsion units are the GE Pressure Water Reactor S9G, designed to last as long the submarine, two turbine engines with one shaft and a pump jet propulser. The speed is 28 knots dived.
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/nssn/
Soviet-era submarines were notoriously unreliable, and several Soviet submarines suffered serious nuclear reactor accidents.
The author certainly got this right. Greens are known around the world for their tight military-industrial complex sympathies.
I would rather have the cold war than the war on terror.
Glad someone else remembers that. Oh - and guess which computer company has a contract with the USN for the PCs on some of the ships? (or at least had the contract back in about 1999-2000).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.