Columbia-class SSBN (SSBN-X Future Follow-on Submarine)

Per the indictment, the info passed pertained to the Virginia class reactor.

The really unexpected thing is that the country that received the initial approach apparently passed it to the US government.
Depending on the country, might not have been worth the hassle. Or its a favor for a favor.

Hope they're exceedingly thorough with this investigation.
 
The country they were trying to pass the info to was apparently France.
...wat.

Like, the French know how to make reactors. And have very explicitly chosen NOT to make HEU reactors for their subs.

This sounds exceedingly stupid.
 
This topic might be better for the military section or bar, its not strictly relevant for the Colombia-class in strict technical terms as spying and guesses of which country might have wanted this data fall more under geopolitics than technics.
 

First Columbia Ballistic Missile Submarine Begins to Take Shape​


By: Sam LaGrone
March 8, 2022 10:19 PM



The future USS Oregon (SSN-793) pier side at General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard on Feb. 28, 2022. USNI News Photo

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – The backbone of the Navy’s next nuclear ballistic missile submarine is starting to take shape in a series of understated white buildings on the edge of Narragansett Bay.
Building-sized sections of the future USS Columbia (SSBN-826) have been under construction at the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility at Quonset Point, under cover from the Rhode Island winter and largely unseen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


EB’s sub construction yard – split between its more than 100-year-old yard in Groton, Conn., and the newer facilities on the site of an old U.S. Navy air station that’s turned into an industrial park – is finalizing an almost $2 billion expansion of its yards to build the dozen boat Columbia-class to replace the aging class of Ohio SSBNs, as well as building the larger Virginia Payload Modules for the Block V Virginia-class attack submarines.


Last week, USNI News toured the Quonset Point facility and EB’s yard in Groton, where the first pieces of Columbia have been under construction since 2020[...]

[...]Keeping to the schedule is key for the Navy as the first Ohio-class boomer –USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) – is set to leave the service in 2027. Columbia needs to deliver by the end of 2027 then enter years of planned first-in-class testing to be ready for its first patrol.
 
I wonder if the next two will be named USS South Carolina and USS Kansas since the second Columbia class is being named USS Wisconsin. Those are the last names names left before they start reusing Ohio class names or something else.
 
I wonder if the next two will be named USS South Carolina and USS Kansas since the second Columbia class is being named USS Wisconsin. Those are the last names names left before they start reusing Ohio class names or something else.
Yeah the Navy has slow-motion painted itself into a corner with the state names. They need to go back to major cities, or fish.
 
I wonder if the next two will be named USS South Carolina and USS Kansas since the second Columbia class is being named USS Wisconsin. Those are the last names names left before they start reusing Ohio class names or something else.
Yeah the Navy has slow-motion painted itself into a corner with the state names. They need to go back to major cities, or fish.
They are with the most recent Virginia class orders, a new USS Barb, USS Tang, and USS Silversides.
 
So USS Columbia and USS District of Columbia???
 
Seems odd but ok, I guess the Old Columbia will be around longer than thought. The last I checked, based on other Los Angeles class subs, her career would end around the time when the USS District of Columbia would be commissioned.
 
So USS Columbia and USS District of Columbia???
USS District of Colombia.
Nope, Columbia
No, that's the District of Columbia.

This is Columbia, in the U.S. sense of the word.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(personification)

Washington D.C. is the District of Columbia. The first Columbia class SSBN will be named "USS District of Columbia". The existing LA class SSN is "USS Columbia". Since they may overlap in service, they can't have the same name. So the SSBN class should probably be renamed the District of Columbia class, but since naming conventions and designations seem to be arbitrary now that probably won't happen.
 
So USS Columbia and USS District of Columbia???
USS District of Colombia.
Nope, Columbia
No, that's the District of Columbia.

This is Columbia, in the U.S. sense of the word.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(personification)

Washington D.C. is the District of Columbia. The first Columbia class SSBN will be named "USS District of Columbia". The existing LA class SSN is "USS Columbia". Since they may overlap in service, they can't have the same name. So the SSBN class should probably be renamed the District of Columbia class, but since naming conventions and designations seem to be arbitrary now that probably won't happen.

Point being that neither of them are Colombia with an O. That, AFAICT, refers only to the country.
 
Sorry but Colombia is the South American Nation while Columbia is the county or district.
Though at least in Hungary we pronounce both of them as Columbia with U rather than with O.

Still it's weird to have the same name for two ships. Like having two IJN Naka, one named after the river the other after the mountain...

Can we say it is a good thing there is no US President named after a state?
 
So USS Columbia and USS District of Columbia???
USS District of Colombia.
Nope, Columbia
No, that's the District of Columbia.

This is Columbia, in the U.S. sense of the word.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(personification)

Washington D.C. is the District of Columbia. The first Columbia class SSBN will be named "USS District of Columbia". The existing LA class SSN is "USS Columbia". Since they may overlap in service, they can't have the same name. So the SSBN class should probably be renamed the District of Columbia class, but since naming conventions and designations seem to be arbitrary now that probably won't happen.

Point being that neither of them are Colombia with an O. That, AFAICT, refers only to the country.
Yeah sorry didn't realize how much of an s-storm my autocorrect would cause
 
So USS Columbia and USS District of Columbia???
USS District of Colombia.
Nope, Columbia
No, that's the District of Columbia.

This is Columbia, in the U.S. sense of the word.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(personification)

Washington D.C. is the District of Columbia. The first Columbia class SSBN will be named "USS District of Columbia". The existing LA class SSN is "USS Columbia". Since they may overlap in service, they can't have the same name. So the SSBN class should probably be renamed the District of Columbia class, but since naming conventions and designations seem to be arbitrary now that probably won't happen.

Point being that neither of them are Colombia with an O. That, AFAICT, refers only to the country.
Yeah sorry didn't realize how much of an s-storm my autocorrect would cause
The difference between capitol of the US and the cocaine capitol of the world. :D
 
Washington is the other way around, obviously.;)

We have done Phoenix in the past. ARA Belgrano was ex-USS Phoenix. But there was also a 688 boat.
 
SLightly off topic but, why was the 688 boat USS Phoenix decommissioned and scrapped after only 16 years?
 
SLightly off topic but, why was the 688 boat USS Phoenix decommissioned and scrapped after only 16 years?
The costs associated with refitting the Flight I boats for service into the 2000s were considerable, and resulted in boats which were noticably louder and less capable than the rest of the class. The USN was rushing to get the 774s into production and so they freed up money by killing the refueling/refit of about half the Flight I 688s.
 

Stupidity galore. :rolleyes:
There is a general labor shortage but especially in the skilled trades required for shipbuilding. We can’t blame the contractors for a societal phenomenon. Basically any welder, electrician or plumber can make a handsome living on their own without resorting to inflexible, industrial shift work.
 

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