TSAMTO, June 7. At the General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) shipyard in Quonset Point (pcs.Rhode Island) On June 4, the ceremony of laying the keel of the SSBN-826 District of Columbia of the Columbia class, intended for the US Navy, took place.
"District of Columbia" is the lead submarine of the series, which will consist of at least 12 ships. Starting in 2027, they will replace 14 Ohio-class submarines in service. It is expected that the lead submarine of the series will go on its first patrol in 2030. The name of the submarine was changed on the eve of the ceremony, as the US Navy recently extended the service life of several Los Angeles-class submarines, including (SSN-771) Columbia.
As reported by TSAMTO, the US Navy began a joint conceptual design of the Columbia SSB with GDEB in 2007. The selection of General Dynamics Electric Boat as the main contractor for the construction of submarines under a cooperation agreement with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) was announced in early 2016. Being a component of the US nuclear triad, Columbia SSBMS are considered as a deterrent to a potential enemy in the future.
In September 2017, the US Navy signed a contract with GDEB for Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) for the construction of Columbia–class SSBMS. Its cost was $5.1 billion. The agreement also included work on the creation of a unified CMC missile compartment (Common Missile Compartment), which, in addition, will be installed on a Successor-type SSB The British Navy.
In November 2020, a contract worth $9.474 billion was signed with GDEB. for the construction and testing of the Columbia class head PLARB. The agreement also included preliminary procurement, initial construction and related engineering work on the second submarine of the series, SSBN-827 Wisconsin. Full-scale construction of this SSB should begin in 2024.
Work on Columbia will be carried out by contractors simultaneously with the construction of the Virginia-class submarine. Construction of a series of 12 Columbia-class submarines will be carried out at shipyards in Virginia, Rhode Island and Connecticut. HII will perform about 22% of the work on each ship, supplying the bow, stern and a number of other modules. GDEB will perform 78% of the work, including the final assembly, and will test the SSB at its enterprise in pcs.Connecticut, which will be followed by acceptance tests and delivery of a submarine to the US Navy.
It is planned that the lead submarine will be transferred to the US Navy in 2027. It is assumed that Columbia-class SSBs will be operated until 2080.
The length of the PLARB will be 560 feet (170.8 m), displacement – 20,810 tons. Columbia will be the largest submarine ever built in the United States. Its reactor will not require a nuclear fuel restart during its planned service life. In addition to 16 Trident-2 SLBMs, the submarine will be armed with Mk torpedoes.48. The SSB series will carry about 70% of the US nuclear arsenal.
