Nuclear submarine "Virginia": design features, armament and chassis

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Change in the geopolitical situation after the liquidation of the USSR led to the need to create a submarine with a lower cost than the submarine of the "Sea Wolf" type. Initially, the task was to preserve the main tactical and technical characteristics, implement new technical solutions in the equipment of the chassis and warhead, and obtain a multi-purpose submarine to solve a wide range of combat missions. In 1998, the US Navy ordered the first copy of the new series of submarines. She was laid down in 1999 and launched in 2003. The first submarine "Virginia" from this project was put into service in 2004.

Case

The hull of the Virginia submarine is 113 meters long and 10.2 meters wide. The outer coating has a "silencing" effect, which makes the noise level of the Virginia nuclear submarine lower than that of fourth-generation Russian Navy submarines.

Power plant

The main innovation implemented in the nuclear submarine "Virginia" is the use"disposable" nuclear reactor. Its resource is designed for the entire life of the boat - 30-33 years. The reactor does not need to be recharged and expose personnel and equipment to the risk of radioactive contamination. During the reloading of the reactor, the boat cannot be on combat duty and perform assigned tasks. The Virginia submarine and others from its series do not have this drawback.

Armaments

The US Navy's Los Angeles-class submarines are equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have proven themselves in the theater of war in many conflicts. These missiles are reliable, relatively cheap and well mastered. Late-built Virginia-class submarines were armed with advanced fourth-generation Tomahawk cruise missiles. These missiles have a more flexible control and guidance system: they are able to change targets in flight and barrage in anticipation of receiving a target.

The Virginia submarine is equipped with four torpedo tubes, standard torpedo ammunition - 26 pcs. type Gould Mark 48. They are capable of hitting surface targets and high-speed submarines. The guidance system has passive and active components:

• when acquiring a target, the torpedo steers on a course with the calculation of the smallest trajectory;
• when the target is lost, it is independently searched for, captured and then attacked;
• multiple attack system allows you to search and capture a target several times when it is lost.

Gould Mark 48 torpedoes have a range of 38 km at 55 knots or 50 km at 40 knots. The maximum immersion depth of the hit target is 800 m.

It also provides for the use of small missiles "Harpoon" with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 225 kg. The range of Harpoon missiles is from 90 to 220 km, depending on their modifications.

Hydroacoustic equipment

Initially, it was planned to equip the Virginia submarine with the AN/BQQ-10 sonar system, which was tested on the Sea Wolf submarine. But the diameter of the bow of the "Virginia" is much smaller than that of the "Sea Wolf", because of this, the placement of the specified complex would lead to severe constriction of the nasal space.

Later, a modernized version of the acoustic complex was developed under the marking AN / BQG-5A. Its acoustic antennas are smaller in diameter and better suited to Virginia-class submarines. The need to reliably determine the location of mines at shallow depths led to the development and installation of a new antenna, due to which the submarine acquired a characteristic "chin" in the bow in appearance.

The high resolution of this antenna allows you to confidently maneuver at shallow depths and find mooredmines located above the ground in the water column.

From the towed antennas of the hydroacoustic system, the choice fell on TV-16 (located in a special hangar on the starboard side) and TV-29A. The second is a more modern version of the TV-29 towed antenna, which was rejected at the design stage due to its high cost.

Adaptation of submarines

In 2010, the US Navy lifted the ban on women serving on submarines. In this regard, the Electric Boat company began to refine the submarine "Virginia" and some of its other class to adapt them to women's needs. The following ideas will be implemented:

• increase in the number of showers;
• separate latrines;
• separate sleeping cabins;
• easier control in terms of physical effort of mechanisms and equipment;
• location of informative signs a little lower;
• installation of ladders near bunk beds.

It should be noted that at the moment about 80 female officers and about 50 female sailors are serving in the US Navy on submarines. And every year their number increases. The adaptation of submarines to women's needs and characteristics of the female body is a forced and necessary measure, although it lends itself to criticism from male submariners.