General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) has “laid the keel” of the second Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine for the U.S. Navy, the future USS Wisconsin.
The boats will become the replacements for the Ohio-class submarines which currently form the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s sea-based strategic nuclear deterrent. A total of 12 new Columbia-class submarines are currently planned at a projected cost of about $132bn.
Construction work on the lead boat in the class, the future USS District of Columbia, began in June 2022; current estimates suggest her delivery will come between late 2028 and early 2030, with entry into service anticipated from 2031 onwards.
The submarines are expected to become the largest such vessels ever built by America; they will each carry up to 16 Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding is serving as the main subcontractor, including taking a role in the new boats’ design and construction.
The ceremonial “keel-laying ceremony” for the future USS Wisconsin took place at the GDEB Quonset Point facility in Kingstown, Rhode Island.at the end of last month. Because technically speaking submarines have round hulls and no keel, instead a ceremonial plate was welded which will be permanently mounted in a “place of honour” on the boat.
At the ceremony Admiral William Houston, Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme, commented: “Our ballistic missile submarines are the most survivable leg of our nation’s nuclear triad; they are the ultimate guarantee that no adversary will ever miscalculate America’s resolve.”
- You can read more details on the GDEB website and U.S. Navy website