NSSN

Shadow in the Shallows
NSSN In The May Issue Of Popular Science, it has a good article on NSSN. It has great information, did you know that you'll never hear the command "up periscope" on an NSSN?

General Dynamics Electric Boat Division and Newport News Shipbuilding are teaming up to build the next generation of attack submarines. NSSN was originally called the Centurian class but is now NSSN(New Attack Submarine). It was also known as NAS. NSSN was designed by Electric Boat using CATIA. Although both companies will make parts of each sub, each company will switch every other boat with main construction. Like the previous class, Seawolf, it will be just as quiet and have a pump-jet propulsor. The below is from a US Navy web site.

The New Attack Submarine (NSSN) is the first U.S. Submarine designed to satisfy the requirements of regional and near-land missions in the post cold-war era. Unobtrusive, unprovocactive, but ready, it will offer a presence that can keep peace in critical regions. Equipped to wage multi-dimensional warfare in the farthest reaches of the globe, the New Attack Submarine ensures that the United States can maintain undersea dominance in coastal waters or in the open ocean.

Design-build teams couple Navy and Industry managers, engineers, designers, key suppliers, water-front tradespeople, and Fleet operators to make key decisions today that ensure the New Attack Submarine dominates tomorrow’s littoral and open-ocean battlespace. The New Attack Submarine’s robust design provides stealth, flexibility, and multi-mission firepower to America’s defense arsenal at an affordable price.

Silent and deadly, the New Attack Submarine features advanced stealth technologies and innovative designs. Its revolutionary modular-isolated deck structure, the advanced propulsion plant and innovative acoustic coatings minimize acoustic signatures. On-board and off-board sensors and unmanned vehicles support the full range of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. The New Attack Submarine will operate quietly and invisible - well within any adversary’s "threat envelop" - without risk to mission success and without the need for self-defense networks.

Powered by an extremely quiet new-design nuclear reactor, the New Attack Submarine will conduct high-tempo operations for months at a time without forward-based logistics support. The ship can quickly arrive in forward areas, remain on station as long as needed, and transit at high speeds to other areas as required.Reconnaissance

Superior covert, clandestine and non-provocative capabilities. On-board imaging, acoustic and electronic sensor systems, unmanned vehicles, as well as off-board systems can continuously monitor the battlespace, enabling quick response to adversaries’ moves.

The New Attack Submarine will support the full spectrum of Special Operations missions - search-and-rescue, intelligence collection, sabotage and diversionary attacks, directing air strikes, and other clandestine missions that demand a stealthy team of elite forces. A nine-man lock-out/lock-in chamber will be used to insert Special Operations Forces. Plus, the New Attack Submarine will host the Advanced Swimmer Delivery System. When fitted with a Dry Deck Shelter, the New Attack Submarine can also deliver Special Operations Forces and their equipment quickly and quietly - while remaining submerged and undetected.nce

With advanced missiles, torpedoes, and naval mines, the New Attack Submarine will be able to sink enemy ships and blockade critical sea regions. The submarine’s primary antiship and antisubmarine weapons will be the MK-48 Advanced Capability wire-guided, active/passive-homing torpedo.

Capitalizing on its stealth and endurance in forward areas, the New Attack Submarine will be ready to attack targets far inland and support the operations of ground forces ashore with power and precision. Current and future variants of the Tomahawk Land-Attack Missile (TLAM) will be launched from the New Attack Submarine’s torpedo and Vertical Launching System (VLS) tubes to attack target’s up to 1000+ miles away. With the ability to mass weapons quickly against critical targets, the New Attack Submarine will be a key element of the 21st century joint expeditionary operations.ntrol

The New Attack Submarine’s Command, Control, Communications’ and Intelligence (C³I) system features an integrated network that is fully adaptable to future missions. Its system of sonar sensors will counter the new generation of extremely quiet submarines in both the open-ocean and littoral combat environments. Its bow-mounted and towed sonar arrays and the Light Weight Wide Aperture Arrays dramatically improve detection and rapid localization of threats in shallow waters or in areas with high background noise. The New Attack Submarine will be the first U.S. submarine built with a visual imaging capability that does not require a mast to penetrate the pressure hull. It will be fitted with two new Photonics masts for improved imaging functions, plus other enhanced modular masts that enable full-spectrum of communications and electronic surveillance measures capabilities. The sail will also have a high data-rate communications antenna and other future special-missions masts.

The New Attack Submarine is being designed for maximum flexibility. The ability to tailor the mix of antiship, antisubmarine, and strike weapons in the submarine’s VLS tubes and torpedo room enhances its multimission firepower. The large reconfigurable torpedo room is designed to accept extensive payload changes and to accommodate mission-specific equipment as well as additional personnel. The New Attack Submarine modular design enables the incorporation of emerging technologies during new construction and can be retrofitted easily in ships already launched. Its open system architecture and modular desk structure optimize the use of commercial technologies. The New Attack Submarine’s modular design can accommodate mission-specific hull sections during construction to provide submarines with enhanced mission-specific features. Flexibility - in design, construction, and warfighting - the hallmark of the New Attack Submarine.

The Navy has worked closely with the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Navy and national laboratories, and industry to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into every facet of the design. Applying the most cost-effective advanced technologies has been integral to every decision - no matter how large of small - made by the New Attack Submarine’s design-build teams.

Links

• Electric Boat
• Newport News Shipbuilding
• NSSN
• US Navy: NSSN
• Subs, EB, and NSSN
• Submarine Central: Electric Boat & Newport News Shipbuilding

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