Home /Columbia Class Missile Submarines

Columbia Class Missile Submarines

Norman Polmar

COLUMBIA STRATEGIC MISSILE SUBMARINE PROJECT

Extracts from:

David B. Larter, DEFENSE NEWS (25 February 2020)

Headline:  

Trump Calls For A 350-Ship Fleet,     But His Budget Falls Short Of Even Obama-Era Goals     

 

The chief culprit in suppressing the Navy’s growth ambitions is the Columbia-class submarine-building program, which Navy leaders have warned for years will cause issues with other shipbuilding programs.  Replacing the Ohio- class ballistic missile submarines with the Columbia class will eat almost 40 percent of the Navy’s shipbuilding budgets by the second half of the 2020s, [Chief of Naval Operations] Gilday said in recent comments.  The first boat ordered in 2021 is slated to cost more in nominal dollars than the Ford-class aircraft carrier, with a price tag exceeding $14 billion, according to FY21 budget documents, though that does not account for early money spent on Ford being adjusted for inflation.

  •  

          “Clearly the Columbia is a big bill, but it’s a big bill we have to pay,” [Secretary of Defense] Esper said.  “That’s the Navy’s bill.  The Air Force has a bill called bombers and Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, so that’s a bill they have to pay.”

 

Note:  The Columbia SSBN will have nuclear—electric drive, and will be larger than the Ohio submarines with 16 (vice 24) missiles.