According to information published in 2009 in the journal Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists, since 1945 approximately 66.5 thousand atomic and thermonuclear charges have been collected in the United States. State laboratories have designed about 100 different types of nuclear weapons and their modifications. Although the end of the Cold War has reduced international tension and reduced nuclear arsenals, US nuclear stockpiles remain significant. According to official American data, the production of new materials for assembling nuclear weapons was discontinued in 1990 (at that time there were about 22,000 warheads in service), but the United States has an abundance of all the necessary components that can be obtained by processing "nuclear raw materials" from disposable warheads … At the same time, nuclear laboratories do not stop research on the creation of new types of nuclear weapons and the improvement of existing ones.
As of the end of 2010, the US military had more than 5,100 nuclear warheads deployed on carriers and in storage (this list does not include several hundred weapons that have been removed from service and awaiting reprocessing). In 2011, it was armed with 450 ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, 14 nuclear submarines with 240 ballistic missiles and about 200 strategic bombers. As part of the implementation of the START-3 Treaty, the number of bombers will be reduced to 60, and the total number of nuclear warheads will be reduced by more than 3 times. According to official information published by the US Department of State, as of October 1, 2016, the US strategic nuclear forces had 1,367 nuclear warheads on 681 deployed strategic delivery vehicles, with a total of 848 deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles. Another 2,500 warheads to be disposed of are stored in warehouses. According to the most recent data released on February 5, 2018, the US strategic nuclear forces have 1,350 deployed strategic warheads. The reduction in charges was mainly due to the decommissioning of some of the B-52H strategic bombers, which, according to the START-3 Treaty, are considered carriers of one nuclear charge per aircraft, a decrease in the number of deployed silo-based ICBMs, as well as a reduction in the number of warheads installed on Trident-2 missiles. …
As you know, up to a certain point, the main functions of "nuclear deterrence" were carried out by the Strategic Air Command, and most of the nuclear charges were deployed on strategic bombers and silo-based ICBMs. In the late 70s in the United States, the number of warheads deployed on submarine ballistic missiles equaled the carriers of the Strategic Air Command. Already in the early 80s, SSBNs equipped with missiles with self-guided thermonuclear warheads became the basis of the American strategic nuclear forces. After the adoption in 1990 of the Trident-2 SLBM with an intercontinental launch range, the Ohio-class submarines were able to conduct combat patrols in the territorial waters of the United States, which greatly increased their invulnerability. This circumstance contributed to the fact that in the 21st century the bias towards naval strategic carriers has become even greater and at present it is the ballistic missiles deployed on SSBNs that constitute the basis of the US strategic nuclear potential. High efficiency, invulnerability to surprise attacks, and the relatively low cost of maintaining SSBNs armed with Trident-2 SLBMs have led the naval strategic forces to occupy a leading position in the US nuclear triad.
According to information published on the website of the American Department of State, the strategic nuclear forces include 60 strategic bombers (18 B-2A and 42 B-52H) - carriers of B-61 free-fall bombs, another 33 B-52H and all available B-1B after the decommissioning of cruise missiles airborne AGM-129A and AGM-86B received "non-nuclear" status. The same source indicates 416 deployed and 38 undeveloped silo LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBMs with Mk.21 monoblock warheads equipped with 450 kt W87 thermonuclear warheads. The US Navy has 320 UGM-133A Trident II missiles. 209 missiles are constantly deployed, each of which, according to American data, carries 4 warheads.
A total of about 900 warheads Mk.5A with warheads W88 and Mk.4A with warheads W76-1 are intended for "Trident - 2". A number of sources say that under the START-3 treaty in 2017, the number of mines loaded with SLBMs on American SSBNs is limited to 20 units. Thus, there are at least 80 thermonuclear warheads on missiles in the silos of the Ohio-class submarine.
The US Navy currently operates 18 Ohio-class boats. According to the Bill Clinton Administrations Nuclear Force Development Program in 1994, of the first eight missile-carrying submarines originally armed with Trident-1 missiles, four were converted into carriers of UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, and the rest were rearmed with Trident-2 SLBMs. The cost of converting one submarine into a SSGN was about $ 800 million. The rearmament of the first four SSBNs from Trident - 1 into nuclear submarines with cruise missiles (SSGNs) took place in the period from 2002 to 2008. Each American SSGN can carry up to 154 cruise missiles on board.
Each converted mine contains 7 Tomahawk CDs. Of the 24 missile silos, 22 were converted to cruise missiles. The two shafts closest to the wheelhouse were converted into airlock chambers to ensure the exit of combat swimmers from the submarine. The airlock chambers are joined by mini-submarines ASDS (Advanced SEAL Delivery System) or extended dock cameras DDS (Dry Deck Shelter).
These external tools can be installed both together and separately, but not more than two in total. Moreover, each installed ASDS blocks three missile silos, and DDS - two. In total, up to 66 combat swimmers or marines with light weapons can be aboard the submarine on a long voyage. In the case of a short-term stay on a boat, this number can be increased to 102 people.
Representatives of the US Navy have repeatedly stated that all UGM-109A cruise missiles with thermonuclear warheads are currently removed from service. However, due to the ability to fly at low altitude, Tomahawk-type cruise missiles are very difficult targets even for a modern air defense system, and even being equipped with conventional warheads, due to their high hitting accuracy, they can be used to solve strategic tasks.
In 2001, during the reign of George W. Bush, the distribution of boats was carried out by fleets: eight SSBNs should be located in the Pacific Ocean (in Bangor, Washington state), six - on the Atlantic (Kings Bay, Georgia). The infrastructure of each naval base allows servicing up to 10 boats. At the same time, of the fourteen SSBNs available in combat, two boats are in scheduled overhaul.
The naval component of the American nuclear triad is the most combat-ready part of it, American boats are at sea 60% of the time a year (i.e. about 220 days a year), so there are usually 6-7 American SSBNs on combat patrols. Another 3-4 missile boats can go to sea during the day. According to statistics, the US Navy's strategic missile carriers perform on average three to four combat services a year. According to data published 10 years ago, in 2008, the US Navy SSBN was performed 31 combat service with a duration of 60 to 90 days. The record for the duration of combat patrols in 2014 was set by the USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735), which was at sea for 140 days. To ensure such an intensive combat use, each strategic missile carrier is manned by two crews - "blue" and "gold", alternately on alert.
Most of the boats are currently patrolling their shores, according to American sources. Combat duty is carried out in areas for which there are accurate hydrological maps. Thanks to this, the SSBN navigation system, which is on combat patrol in a submerged position, receives from the onboard sonar system all the necessary data to correct the error in tracking its coordinates.
However, about 30% of the time spent at sea, cruise and ballistic missile carriers are located in remote areas of the world's oceans. During these cruises, SSBNs and SSGNs visit the naval bases of Guam and Pearl Harbor to replenish supplies of fresh food, minor repairs and short-term rest of the crews.
Until recently, a supply vessel was permanently located in the Guam naval base, in the holds of which there was a spare ammunition for missiles and torpedoes, as well as fresh water, food and supplies of various consumables. Such ships were created during the Cold War and could support the combat activities of the submarine fleet not only in ports, but also on the high seas. The missiles are loaded onto the boat using a crane with a lifting capacity of up to 70 tons.
In terms of the time spent by submarine missile carriers at sea, the US Navy is significantly superior to the Russian fleet. Initially, boats were generally operated on a 100-day cycle - 75 days on patrol and 25 days at base. Our RPKS usually patrol no more than 25% of the time a year (91 days a year).
At the design stage, the service life of the Ohio-class boats was calculated for 20 years with one reactor recharge. However, a large margin of safety and significant modernization potential made it possible by 1990 to extend the service life to 30 years. In 1995, a phased modernization program was launched, carried out in the course of two-year overhauls, combined with the replacement of nuclear fuel. In the course of the implementation of this program and the examination of the boats delivered for overhaul, experts came to the conclusion that the SSBNs in service can be operated for 42-44 years. At the same time, nuclear fuel should be replaced every 20 years.
The high service life, in addition to the well-thought-out design of the American Ohio-class SSBNs, is largely associated with the excellent maintenance base and the process of maintenance and repair worked out to the smallest detail. Kings Bay and Bangor have piers with cranes, large covered boathouses and dry docks. Taking into account the fact that both American bases are located in zones with a much milder climate than similar Russian facilities in Gadzhievo and Vilyuchensk, this causes an acute envy of our submariners.
Separately, it should be said about the American naval arsenals of nuclear weapons and missile service points. According to information published in the American media, a program to modernize and extend the service life of Trident II D5 missiles to the Trident II D5LE level is underway at the Bangor base. The first Trident II D5LE missiles were loaded into SSBN missile silos in February 2017. They should gradually replace all existing Trident-2s on American and British boats.
In the past, the base of SSBN Bangor was an independent naval base. In 2004, with the aim of "optimization" by the merger of the Bremerton naval base and the Bangor submarine base, located on the western and eastern shores of the peninsula, the Kitsap base was formed. Part of the Kitsap naval base, known as the Bangor Trident Base, is the US Navy's largest operational arsenal of strategic missiles. It is here that diagnostics, maintenance, repairs and modernization are carried out after unloading the UGM-133A Trident II missile from the SSBN. In addition to hangars with a controlled microclimate, where missiles are disassembled during routine maintenance, repair and modernization, in this part of the base, on an area of approximately 1200x500 m, there are about 70 fortified bunkers and separate underground storage facilities where missiles and thermonuclear warheads are stored. A permanent exchange fund of missiles and warheads is being formed in the storage facilities, which, if necessary, can be quickly installed on boats preparing for combat patrolling.
There is also a similar facility on the territory of the Kings Bay home base, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. However, unlike the Bangor Trident Base facility, there is no modernization of the Trident-2, but only routine maintenance and minor repairs. There is also a missile arsenal in the vicinity of the Pearl Harbor naval base, but it seems to be used on a much smaller scale and only as an emergency replacement point for missiles.
According to the published plans, the withdrawal of the first submarine of the Ohio type is scheduled for 2027, the last submarine of this type should be decommissioned in 2040. Submarines of the "Ohio" type will be replaced by SSBNs of the "Columbia" type.
The design of the promising SSBN, also known as SSBN (X), in collaboration with Newport News Shipbuilding, is being carried out by Electric Boat Corporation (all 18 Ohio-class boats were built with the participation of Electric Boat). In total, 12 boats are planned for construction, the construction of the head SSBN should begin in 2021. Although the submarine displacement of the Columbia-class submarine will be about 1,500 tons more than that of the Ohio SSBN, the new missile carrier will carry only 16 silos with the Trident-II D5LE SLBM, in the future it will be replaced by the Trident E-6.
The maximum length of the boat is 171 m, the width of the hull is 13.1 m - that is, in terms of dimensions, the projected missile submarine is close to the Ohio-type boats. It can be assumed that the increase in the underwater displacement is due to the fact that during the entire life cycle of the Columbia-type SSBN, no recharging of the reactor is envisaged. In this case, the boat must serve at least 40 years. It is believed that a larger volume inside a robust housing should provide the necessary upgrade headroom during its entire service life.
In the design of the Columbia-class SSBNs, it is proposed to apply a number of advanced technical innovations:
- X-shaped aft rudders
- underwater scooters installed in the superstructure
- all-mode propeller motor instead of turbo-gear units and economical running electric motors
- equipment created for the Virginia-class nuclear submarine, including a jet propulsion unit, sound-absorbing coatings and a bow GAS with a wide aperture
- combat control system, which will combine: communications, sonar, optical surveillance, weapons and defense systems.
At the 2015 Maritime, Air and Space Exhibition, a model of Columbia-class SSBNs with a jet propulsion unit visually similar to the propulsion unit for Virginia-class boats was presented. According to information published by General Dynamics Electric Boat, the developer of the missile compartment, this part of the boat will also be used on the British advanced SSBN of the Dreadnought type (being developed to replace the Vanguard-class boats). The jet propulsion unit, the rejection of turbo-gear units and the use of new multilayer sound-insulating materials should increase the stealth of the boat in an economical running mode on combat patrols.
At the same time, critics of the Columbia SSBN program point to its extremely high cost. So, only for design work and the creation of the necessary technologies, more than $ 5 billion has been allocated. The cost of building the first boat in 2018 prices is estimated at about $ 9 billion, excluding the cost of armament, personnel training and arrangement of bases. The cost of maintaining the life cycle of 12 boats is estimated at $ 500 billion. The completion of the construction of the first Columbia SSBN is scheduled for 2030, and commissioning of the fleet in 2031. The construction of a series of 12 boats should be completed by 2042, their service is planned until 2084.
