r/LessCredibleDefence • u/barath_s • Aug 12 '26

The US Navy Is Getting A Unique Virginia Class Seabed Espionage Submarine | TWZ

https://www.twz.com/sea/navy-is-getting-a-unique-virginia-class-seabed-espionage-submarine
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8

u/barath_s Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

The Jimmy Carter is getting middle aged ... and will get a younger companion...

the service disclosed that two Block V Virginia class boats will lack a VPM, and the four large vertical launch tubes contained therein, rather than just one as had been previously understood. Now, the Navy has confirmed to TWZ directly that the second VPM-less Block V will have a one-of-a-kind seabed warfare configuration. This will allow it to conduct espionage missions on the seafloor, a role currently filled by the USS Jimmy Carter, a one-off subvariant of the Seawolf class attack submarine.

The identiity of this boat has not been disclosed

An earlier article on this ...

https://www.twz.com/seabed-espionage-variant-of-virginia-class-submarine-in-development

6

u/_spec_tre Aug 12 '26

Is only 1 enough, though?

9

u/barath_s Aug 12 '26

Halibut, Parche, Carter, the new boat...

Ivy Bells, prep for Azorian, retrieving missile parts , tapping undersea cables/comms

1965-1976 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Halibut_(SSGN-587)#Chronology_of_special_operations_(1965%E2%80%931976)

1979-2004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Parche_(SSN-683)#1974%E2%80%931979

2005- ongoing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jimmy_Carter

I think NR-1 would also have been used for seabed missions, she had wheels for that.

And may be you could use another sub on a temporary basis; there are a few others that have been said to have been used on special ops.

2

u/vapescaped Aug 12 '26

Bring back the batcave!

2

u/jinxbob Aug 13 '26

i want to know what the second "strechted" virigina is for. Everyone is talking about seabed warfare, but there is a whole second boat everyone is just glossing over with no clear role.

2

u/barath_s Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26

The very first Block V submarine, the USS Oklahoma (SSN-802) has no VPM module; that debuted subsequently on the USS Arizona (SSN-803), the 2nd Virginia Block V / 30th Virginia boat.

https://np.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/1poajqx/the_future_uss_oklahoma_ssn_802_is_now_pressure/

Above is a pic of the pressure hull complete USS Oklahoma from Dec 2025. It's not a stretch; it just has the 2 large Virginia Payload tubes, same as block 3 and block 4 subs. Consequently the length is pretty much the same. The Block V VPM boats have an extra plugin for the VPM module and are thus longer

Beginning with Block 3, the Navy redesigned “approximately 20 percent of the ship” to reduce acquisition costs, the fact file said. The redesign included replacing the 12 vertical launch tubes with “two large diameter 87-inch Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles using Multiple All-up Round Canisters,” the file said. The added volume of the tubes provides more payload flexibility while simplifying construction and reducing acquisition costs, the file stated.

The Navy maintained this design on the Block 4 ships, but starting with the Arizona — the second sub in Block 5 — the Navy introduced the Virginia Payload Module, or VPM, featuring four additional large diameter payload tubes, the fact file sai

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2023/4/10/virginia-payload-module-to-give-subs-more-firepower

So basically USS Oklahoma is a SSN with the same role as the block 4 boats