Word: seawolf
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Measuring 353 ft. from stem to stern and a potbellied 40 ft. across at the waist, the U.S. Navy's proposed SSN-21 Seawolf-class nuclear attack submarine looks more like a whale with a weight problem than a swift and silent undersea marauder. Yet when the first of a projected 30 Seawolfs sets to sea in 1995, her proponents hope she will live up to her name by proving to be a deadly hunter-killer beneath the waves. "The Seawolf," says the Navy's top submariner, Vice Admiral Bruce DeMars, "will be the supersub of the 21st century...
...more than $1.8 billion apiece, the Seawolfs may turn out to be the superduds of undersea warfare. Last week widely respected Congressional Staff Aide Anthony Battista declared that the Seawolf could not compete with faster, quieter Soviet subs and that the Navy should scrap it. Reaction to this broadside was swift. "We continue to have, by far, the finest submarines in the world," retorted Navy Secretary James Webb...
...Navy has good reason to be sensitive to charges that Soviet submarine technology has grabbed the lead. As naval exercises repeatedly demonstrate, a battle for control of the seas would largely be fought underwater. The U.S. Navy wants the Seawolf to track and destroy Soviet missile submarines before they can launch their deadly cargoes, and to neutralize Soviet attack subs before they can sink the U.S.'s vital missile-launching Trident fleet...
Capable of cruising more than 1,000 ft. below the ocean surface at speeds up to 35 knots, the Seawolf will carry an arsenal of sophisticated acoustical homing torpedoes that can track and attack submarines and surface ships. From almost 100 ft. down, a mix of nuclear-tipped or conventional missiles and mines will be launched through eight large-bore torpedo tubes...
...considered stronger by virtue of superior technology. Now that the new Soviet subs are equipped with quieter propellers, that superiority is threatened. As a result, the Navy may convince Congress that the number of U.S. subs must be increased sharply. Because the newest submarines under development -- known as the Seawolf class -- will cost more than $1 billion each, it is the U.S. that could pay the highest price for Toshiba's and Kongsberg's dealings...