For the first time, three US Seawolf-class nuclear submarines have sailed simultaneously in the Western Pacific. According to US media, such a combined formation is more than enough to sink a Chinese aircraft carrier.
According to Forbes, in July, the US Navy deployed three of the most powerful nuclear attack submarines of the Seawolf-class (Sea Wolf) at the same time in the same waters in the Western Pacific.
Currently, all of the Seawolf-class nuclear attack submarines (3/3 of them), are deployed by the US Navy to operate in the Pacific region, to deal with the US Navy’s biggest rival, China. Country; The opponent is now rapidly developing naval power.
Three nuclear submarines named Sea Wolf, Connecticut and Jimmy Carter all departed from Bremerton, Washington state on the West Coast of the United States. The fact that all three nuclear submarines are deployed to work together, has a huge impact on the US Navy’s strategy.
Although the Seawolf-class submarine was designed and manufactured in the 1990s, it still has the largest tonnage, fastest speed and largest number of weapons, out of a total of about 50 nuclear attack submarines of the United States.
The Seawolf class is armed with 50 torpedoes and missiles, its firepower is enough to sink an corvette or a carrier battle group of the Chinese Navy today. Seawolf is also considered the quietest nuclear submarine in the world.
The Seawolf is the successor to the Los Angeles class, whose construction began at the end of the Cold War. Seawolf-class submarines are equipped with eight 660mm torpedo tubes, which can launch weapons such as MK-48A guided torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and mines; twice as many as a Los Angeles-class submarine.
The Seawolf’s reconnaissance system includes, a set of integrated sonar AN/BQQ-5D, including active/passive bridge array sonar in the bow and AN/BQG-5 wide-hole passive sonar array on both sides of the ship’s hull. There is also an active close range, high frequency AB/BQS-24 active sonar for mine detection.
The third Seawolf-class submarine Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) also has an extension module, 30 meters long in the hull, allowing it to carry special agents and special operations forces to land close to the enemy’s shore through torpedo tubes.
Because the cost of Seawolf-class submarines is too high, with a unit price of 3 billion USD / unit, when the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Cold War ended and the US defence budget was cut, the Seawolf-class submarine program was built. too expensive was completely cancelled after 1995.
The U.S. Army had only built three at that time, and some of its duties were assigned to the smaller Virginia-class submarines. But if there’s a Seawolf-class submarine in an opponent’s backyard, that’s bad news for the enemy; and if there are three Seawolf, it will play a decisive role in the battle.
Normally, submarines of the same class of the US Navy will be deployed one after another, because these ships rely on similar infrastructure such as logistics and training, so ships of the same type will be divided into three waves to deploy. in turn, to ensure redundancy.
For example, of the three submarines, there is a patrol boat, a training ship and a maintenance ship. This model also explains why, the US Navy has a total of about 300 combat ships in service, but can only deploy 100 at a time.
But when the situation arises, the US Navy commander can dispatch more, or all of the ships at once during a crisis. If there is a possibility of conflict with China or Russia, the US Pacific Fleet will certainly need to send more than 50 or 60 warships.
Of course, it is difficult to maneuver all the ships, as it requires a lot of synchronous resources. So when a fleet proves it can do this, that is in response to crises, it’s alarming.
The fact that the most powerful Seawolf-class submarines of the US Navy are deployed at the same time and work together, is all the more remarkable. And so, the US Navy does not underestimate the power of the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carrier.