The Race for Next Generation Submarines - Ageing Fleets, Innovation, & Undersea Dominance

Nuclear powered submarines are often among the most complex and expensive systems ever fielded by any military. However, for decades, they (and less expensive conventionally powered designs) have been considered a cornerstone of naval power by many navies because of the unique capabilities they offer.

With new anti-submarine threats emerging, from new sensors to unmanned systems, many nations are now preparing to design and produce a new generation of submarines to answer those threats, leverage new technologies, and keep up with international competitors.

Today, we take a look at that emerging development and construction race.

Patreon:

Reading and Sourcing:

Unless otherwise noted - platform counts are usually as per MB2024

RUSI - The Yasen-M and the future of the Russian Submarine Force

GAO - Weapon Systems Annual Assessment 2023

CRS - Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress

CBO - Analysis of the USN 2024 shipbuilding plan

USNI - Lieutenant Commander Patrick Rawlinson, U.S. Navy - Torpedoes: Get Smaller to Think Bigger

USNI - Russia’s Kilo-class Submarine: Improved And More Deadly Than Ever

Emma Salisbury - The sinking submarine industrial base

Reporting on SSN(X)

CRS on SSN(X)

Reporting on large-diameter submarines

Submarine industrial base council - VPM

Reporting on UK navy Sub-drone teaming

Japan issues military equipment wishlist

Japan commissions first of new submarine class

USNI - GAO on shipyards

TASS - Mozhaisk diesel-electric submarine joins Navy

RIA Novosti on Husky and Kalina

Restart of Mk48 production

Image used for Surrogat-V

Spearfish Mod 1 goes into service

Very light weight torpedo image

USNI - First Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine begins to take shape

Reporting on RAPTOR

Arctic Class SSBN concept

Caveats & Comments:
All normal caveats and comments apply. In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:00:42 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:05 — The Push For A New Generation
00:07:43 — Next Generation Technologies
00:18:34 — The US Submarine Fleet
00:35:22 — The Russian Federation
00:55:14 — Japan
01:03:53 — Risk & Drawbacks
01:06:01 — Channel Update

[PerunAU]

Note there is a correction for the JMSDF section - the slides describe the last two vessels of the Sōryū and all of the Taigei class boats as being AIP. They are actually post-AIP in a sense. They replaced the Stirling engines of the original Sōryū boats with lithium-ion batteries (and lots of them) for increased electrical energy storage. The slides should instead list 10 Sōryū (AIP) 2 Sōryū and the Taigei slide should not have AIP listed.

Apologies for the slightly later release, I hope you enjoy.

[capresesalad]

"The United States Navy has declared that it likes big boats and it cannot lie" 🤣

[blaiseutube]

Last year, Perun helped me get through suicidal ideation and reach out for help.
This year, Perun is a treat and the ideation is just a signal that I am not getting enough rest.
---
Edit: A number of setbacks had me stalled and I felt surrounded by stagnation. The Sunday morning presentation was the one example of progress and pursuit of excellence. Perun 's tenacity reminded me that I had not exhausted my options.

[Deltarious]

I think the best part of this video might be that you just *know* that there will be at least a few sailors out there sitting underwater unseen on their nuke boats discussing this video at some point soon, and that makes me smile

[davidcerutti]

"The Oprah Winfrey approach to handing out Mark 48 torpedoes." 🤟

[NovaXXX]

Let’s not forget that Russia has been engaged in a monumental submarine procurement effort these last few years, with a significant part of the Black Sea Fleet being converted into submarines with the help of foreign contractors.

[TheMaristBoy]

"The United States Navy has declared that it likes big boats and it cannot lie" How long were you holding onto this gem?

[loach]

Me and the bois getting hyped for a new PowerPoint

[relwalretep]

This is the PowerPoint Perun's AUKUS viewers have been waiting for haha

[tennyoceres]

nothing like making breakfast on a Sunday morning while learning about the future of military grade weapons

[TravelerZ]

My cousin was a nuclear engineer on the Jimmy Carter, and that is all he ever shared. Definitely did some less than gentlemanly stuff out there

[requious]

“US Navy apparently likes big boats and they cannot lie.” That might be the single funniest line ever.

[MM]

Since this is a defense logistics channel, one thing worth noting (for those that are not already aware) is that a BIG advantage in nuclear boats is endurance. A diesel-elec SSK may be able to stay out for a couple of weeks, but an SSN/SSGN/SSBN can stay out on patrol for MONTHS. Their only real limiting factor is food and crew/ship health, because their nuke plants give effectively unlimited range and they can crack fresh water out of seawater.

[Ispeedymg]

I unironically get very productive for an hour every Sunday listening to these.

Thank you Perun

[StevenBanks]

18:35 Perun’s dry humor: “overly vengeful Canada.”

[inyourfaceicity]

"a level of acoustic subtlety only a couple steps removed from a heavy metal band." :D

[jsmithson]

Lithobraking is the best new euphemism I have heard in ages 😂

[crystallineentity]

the British actually had 3 nuclear subs and 1 diesel-electric sub around the falklands. The Conqueror is the only one anybody remembers :)

[grazzitdvram]

Just a quick mention about the missiles carried by the SSBN's, it is worth noting that while both the USA and Russia have scaled back the amount they carry you still gotta remember each one of those missiles carry 6-8 MIRV's which is the actual nuclear warheads, so scaling back to 16 missiles per boat "limits" the amount of targets they can nuke to over 96-128'ish. So yeah, just worth remembering 1 boat has enough firepower to destroy basically any nation on earth.

Cheers!

[fodz]

"There are two types of ships out there, submarines and targets" gold