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| U.S. to use new nuclear submarines to battle terrorism |
| 2004-10-28 |
| The new submarines was ('were', Pravda's Commies are still speaking USSR-Speak) named in honor of the State of Virginia. The US Navy put into service a new submarine, which had been designed especially for the anti-terrorist struggle. It is noteworthy that the Soviet Union used to have a similar submarine: the 667A submarine was redesigned as a carrier sub, which was outfitted with two mini submarines in addition to torpedoes. The American submarine bears a certain resemblance to the Soviet sub as far as its objectives are concerned. The official website of the Russian Ministry for Atomic Power said that the US submarine Virginia was evaluated at $2.2 billion. The sub differs from its analogues for its capability to navigate at a relatively small depth, which is an important aspect for anti-terrorist operations. The crew of the nuclear-powered 113-meter-long submarine counts 130 members. The solemn ceremony took place at the largest US Navy base on the Atlantic coast in Norfolk, Virginia. The new $2.2 billion submarine was named in honor of the state. The submarine was built by Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics corporations. Virginia is capable of navigating in shallow waters to pursue terrorists. Instead of a periscope the crew of the new sub will use a special high resolution digital camera. This new feature allowed to move the captain's bridge to a more spacious compartment on the lower deck of the sub. The torpedo compartment can be redesigned too to place additional bunks there. Like the above-mentioned Soviet sub, the US nuclear submarine is equipped with unmanned watercrafts, which will be used for reconnaissance purposes under the water. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #3 Hell, the admirals adapted the Virginias because they was looking at sub drivers being out of work.... it's an underwater littoral combat vessel! LOL! Just make sure it can kill every thing in the Straits of mollusks inside 3 hours. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-10-28 4:14:43 PM |
| #2 A number of comments: "The US Navy put into service a new submarine, which had been designed especially for the anti-terrorist struggle." The Virginia is an adapted attack submarine design. It is a matter of semantics, I suppose, but it was not designed specifically for counter-terrorist ops from the beginning (the project started in the early 90s as a more affordable follow-on to the Seawolf class). "It is noteworthy that the Soviet Union used to have a similar submarine: the 667A submarine was redesigned as a carrier sub, which was outfitted with two mini submarines in addition to torpedoes. The American submarine bears a certain resemblance to the Soviet sub as far as its objectives are concerned." Naturally, the Russkies have to claim credit for the innovation, but the US has been converting subs of one kind or another for special ops since the early days of WW2, when the large pre-war subs Argonaut and Nautilus were used to take Carlson's Raiders to Makin. The Nautilus and her sister-ship, Narwhal, were later refitted as specialized transport submarines and saw extensive service in support of Phillipine guerrillas. After the war, there were a number of transport conversions of wartime fleet submarines, including Sealion and Tunny. The latter had a long and varied career over a quarter of a century, first being converted into an SSG for the Regulus cruise missile, then into a transport submarine for special ops. She saw combat in that role during the Vietnam War and may have been the last submarine to fire a deck gun in anger. The specially built postwar SSG Grayback was also converted for transport work, as were several early SSBNs. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-10-28 3:40:20 PM |
| #1 It sure is a good thing for us the Soviet Union broke the ground in so many areas. History will no doubt rec ord it as a highwater mark in technical advancement. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-28 7:27:20 AM |