The
Seawolf-class attack submarines (SSN) are quieter than the previous
Los Angeles class, faster, have more torpedo tubes, and carry more weapons. They use the more advanced AN/BSY-2 combat system, which includes a new larger spherical sonar array, a wide aperture array (WAA), and a new towed-array sonar. Originally intended as a fleet of 29 submarines to be built over a ten-year period, the end of the
Cold War and budget constraints dropped that number to three and led to the design of the
Virginia class submarine.
- Builders: Electric Boat
- Displacement: 9,150 tons submerged
- Length: 350 feet
- Beam: 40 feet
- Draft: 35 feet
- Speed: 25+ knots submerged
- Propulsion: S6W reactor[?]
- Depth: Greater than 800 feet
- Complement: 133
- Armament: eight 30-inch torpedo tubes, 50 torpedoes and missiles, or 100 mines