![]() The boats were also designed to carry an advanced sonar suite that included the IBM BQQ 6 passive search sonar, Raytheon BQS 13, BQS 15 active and passive high-frequency sonar, and an active Raytheon BQR 19 navigation sonar. The Ohio-class was also designed with four 533mm (21-inch) torpedo tubs with a Mk 118 digital torpedo fire control systems, and armed with Gould Mk 48s, a heavyweight weapon with a 640 pound (290 kg) warhead. The boats are able to maintain a top speed of 18 knots when surfaced and 25 knots submerged. The Ohio-class submarines feature a streamlined outer hull that enables the boat to move silently through the water at high speed, while the interior pressure hull provides an area that is large enough to accommodate the weapons, crew and equipment.Įach of the submarines are powered by a GE S8G pressure water reactor with two turbines that provide 45 MW (60,000 shp), which drive a single shaft. ![]() This further maximizes the SSBN’s strategic availability, while reducing the number of boats that are required to meet the strategic requirements and yet allow for proper crew training, readiness and morale. The two sets of crews each consists of fifteen officers, including its own captain, and one hundred forty four enlisted sailors. Navy’s boats displaced 16,764 tons, were 560 feet (170 meters) in length, and were 42 feet (13 meters) at the beam.Įach of the SSBNs has two crews – “Blue” and “Gold” – which alternate manning the boats while on patrol. Until the deployment of the Soviet Union’s mighty Typhoon-class, the Ohio was the largest submarine in the world. The crew facilities were also enhanced, and included two onboard libraries and other amenities. The Ohio-class has been seen as a major improvement over the previous Lafayette-class SSBNs, and the boats were faster, quieter, and easier to maintain. The first eight boats were delivered with Trident C4 missiles, while the fourteen to follow were armed with the longer-range Trident D5 – a weapon that has been touted as being as accurate as ground-based ICBMs, and with the same response time and greater destructive effect. Bush as providing “a new dimension in our nation’s strategic deterrence.” The submarine, which had been laid down five years earlier, was the first in a new class of eighteen nuclear-powered SSBNs built for the United States Navy. When the USS Ohio (SSBN-726) was commissioned in 1981, the nuclear ballistic submarine was heralded by then-Vice President George H.W. "Sunak and Albanese would be both willing to travel for the announcement, but at the moment it's harder for the US president to leave his country," a figure familiar with the planning discussions has told the ABC.While the Ohio-class submarines are children of the Cold War – and built to destroy the Soviet Union in a nuclear war – these ballistic missiles submarines now are tasked with deterring China and Russia. Mr Albanese has already indicated he will visit India, where he has been invited to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the fourth cricket test, which begins on March 9. The ABC understands a precise date for the unveiling is yet to be agreed on, but federal parliament is scheduled to sit for all but the second week of March, meaning Mr Albanese could easily travel between March 10 to 19. Planning is underway for the prime minister to travel overseas for the long-awaited AUKUS announcement on an "optimal pathway" to replace the Navy's ageing Collins-class fleet, with Defence Minister Richard Marles flagging a "genuinely trilateral" solution.ĭetails of the high-profile event involving three world leaders are yet to be confirmed publicly but anticipation is growing that it will take place in the United States to accommodate President Biden's schedule. ![]()
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