The Seawolf Class Submarines Deadliest

The U.S. Navy operates some of the most powerful and dangerous vessels above and under the sea surface. The submarines are a key part of a fleet, and they have also a very important role in the carrier strike groups. That's why the U.S. wanted the most advanced and efficient submarine that its military industry could produce.

Source : Fakta Alutsista

The Seawolf-class submarines are nuclear-powered fast attack submarines and successors to the Los Angeles class. Their development started in 1989 and lasted till 2005. The first submarine started serving for the US Navy in 1997, and so far, the US has 'built three Seawolves'. All of these three are still active, although they were meant to be built 29 submarines. The remaining 26 were canceled mainly because of a limited budget and the end of the Cold War. The Seawolf-class submarines are not cheap: each unit costs almost $3 billion, with the most expensive one, the USS Jimmy Carter, to cost $3.5 billion.

At some point, the US decided that they should build 12 units with a total cost of $33.6 billion, but that decision was disregarded after the end of the Cold War. The specific submarine is the most expensive US submarine and the second most expensive after the French SSBN Triomphant class. The solution came when the Virginia class was proposed; a cheaper and smaller class of submarines that cost less and continued what Seawolf-class started.

The capabilities of the submarines were specifically designed in hypothetical conflicts with the Soviet ones. 

The Seawolf-class could be designed to defend and attack the Soviet Akula class submarine and defend against the Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine. 

The underwater vessel has a total capacity of 50 UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be used against targets on sea and land. Other systems like the sonar and radar are very advanced and capable. 

The whole submarine is powered by an S6W nuclear reactor capable enough to produce 45,000 hp. Although the reactor is very powerful, the whole submarine operates relatively quietly.

There may be only three Seawolf-class submarines but are for sure the most deadly of their kind. As we stated earlier, their quiet operations help them stay untainted to enemy sonars and perform stealthy attacks on the enemy fleet. 

In combination with their high speed, the vessels are very dangerous to every nation's navy. Their heavy armament and advanced missiles can cause remarkable damage to enemy vessels even before the enemy fleet can trace the Seawolf.

The submarine is very successful in the Los Angeles class. They can carry almost the double capacity of missiles compared to them. 

Consider that the only reason the production was limited to three units was the enormous budget they required. But still, with only three submarines active, the Seawolf-class lead the way for the most dangerous attack submarines ever sailed.