Fit for the future

Because the Seawolf class turned out to be extremely expensive, the US Navy developed a scaled-down version of these attack submarines in the form of the Virginia class. New blocks ensure that the technology is always up to date.

Stefan Ulsamer

1 January 2021 was a particularly important date for the US submarine industry. In a rare New Year's session, the US Senate voted 81 to 13 in favour of a override - i.e. an override - of the veto that President Trump had placed on the US defence budget for the 2021 fiscal year. This override by the President authorised the construction of a total of nine naval vessels, including the first unit of the new Columbia-class strategic submarines and two Virginia-class nuclear-powered fighter submarines.

The second Virginia-class boat in particular was preceded by a lengthy tug-of-war between the US Congress and the Pentagon, as the budget request for 2021, which was published by the Trump administration in February 2020, surprisingly only included a Virginia was applied for. On this New Year's Day, General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, and Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, as the long-term planned construction of the two Virginia-class boats can continue without interruption. This means that neither of the two shipyards building the Virginia Class as a joint project will have to make redundancies.