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Attack Submarines

 

After the appearance of nuclear strategic submarines, it seemed that only other nuclear submarines could maneuver in three dimensions and maintain contact long enough to destroy them. Surface ships were at a clear disadvantage, since their sonar systems could not be operated as freely as submarines. This situation changed somewhat when surface warships began to tow passive sonar systems to submarine-like depths, giving homing torpedoes launched from ships and helicopters a better chance to lock on to targets and destroy them. Thus, both submarines and surface ships became effective anti-submarine weapons, but only submarines could operate close to enemy bases, where they could easily detect enemy submarines and ambush them, with little chance of being detected. For these reasons, it became inevitable that a navy with strategic nuclear submarines would also build attack nuclear submarines.

 

 A good example of this evolution are the four generations of U.S. nuclear attack submarines during and after the Cold War: Los Angeles class, 51 vessels commissioned between 1976 and 1996; Seawolf class, three vessels commissioned between 1997 and 2005; Virginia class, 18 vessels planned, the first of which was commissioned in 2004. Designed at the height of the Cold War, the Sturgeon and Los Angeles submarines initially carried not only conventional anti-submarine torpedoes but also rocket-launched nuclear depth charges, known as SUBROCs. The Seawolf submarine was also designed during the Cold War (though it didn't enter service until after the collapse of the Soviet Union) and was a specialized "submarine hunter" that could maintain high speeds while making almost no noise and dive to extraordinary depths. Since the end of the Cold War, these costs were too high to justify, and they were replaced by the Virginias, intended for a variety of coastal and offshore missions.

 All US attack submarines are equipped with conventional torpedoes and underwater-launched Harpoon missiles to attack surface vessels at ranges of up to 70 nautical miles (130 km). Since the 1980s, they have been equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can be programmed to attack ships up to 250 nautical miles (450 km) away, or, in strategic variants, to land targets with nuclear warheads at distances of up to 1,300 nautical miles (2,500 km) when carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads. In addition, many submarines were equipped or modified with special compartments or capsules for the launch and recovery of special operations forces.