The deep sea has been a covert battlefield for decades, where technology and strategy are converging silently. America’s attack submarines used to own this turf—fast, quiet, and powerful enough to keep rivals in awe. But when new technologies and competitor underwater systems are peaking over the horizon, the Navy confronts a question of definition: how do you stay ahead of the curve in a space where being caught napping just isn’t an option?
The American attack submarine has always been a story of reinvention. The Los Angeles-class of the 1970s provided the Navy with speed, longevity, and utility and served as the fleet workhorse. The Seawolf-class of the 1990s took it further—larger, faster, and nearly silent—and was so extravagantly costly that only three were constructed. The Virginia-class came next, being designed for the post-Cold War period. It was modular, cheaper, and equally capable for shallow coastal waters as for the ocean.
The Virginia-class was capped at the Block V update. Equipped with the Virginia Payload Module, it is able to fire 40 Tomahawk missiles and has compartments that could be reoriented for special operations or intelligence gathering. Its modularity was flexible enough that it was able to support a wide variety of missions, demonstrating the potential that evolution held to make a platform worthwhile to use for decades.
But evolution has its limits. The next generation is an upgrade. Say hello to the SSN(X), the Navy’s future attack submarine. Although still on paper, it’s already generating buzz. This is not another Virginia-class tweak—it’s a fresh sheet of paper aimed at creating new standards for subsurface control.
The design takes the best of the heritage: Seawolf’s speed and quiet, the mission flexibility of the Virginia, and the ruggedness of the Columbia-class ballistic missile boats. The Navy sees a ship that is quieter, faster, deadlier, and acoustically stealthy—an underwater killer.
Physically, the SSN(X) will be larger than the Virginia-class, up to 12,000 tons in length. It will be powered by a next-generation nuclear reactor, possibly hybrid or electric, to reduce noise. Stealth is more than just propulsion, however. The ship will be fitted with advanced sonar arrays, AI-acoustic processing, and hull paint designed to make it as invisible as possible. Cyber resiliency and electronic warfare capability baked into the design will enable it to live and fight in hostile waters.
Its weaponry will be no less robust. Virginia Block V can carry around 65 weapons, while the SSN(X) might be able to carry 70. Due to modular bays, those might be cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, unmanned underwater vehicles, or even test energy-based platforms. The ability to change out payloads means that the submarine can be able to respond in a short time to whatever mission it has in front of it, from tracking down enemy subs to delivering land assaults.
The most revolutionary potential of the SSN(X) could be as an authentic “mothership” for unmanned vehicles. It will deploy and manage several UUVs, extending its surveillance and strike reach hundreds of kilometers across expanses of ocean. That will be essential as unmanned threats expand and undersea combat widens into broader, more contested zones.
Of course, innovation might come at a price. Each Virginia Block V is now more than $4 billion, and the SSN(X) projections are up to $6.7 to $8 billion per boat. The Navy hopes that the first of these ships will arrive by 2040, replacing older Virginia and Seawolf ships incrementally as the fleet works its way towards 66 to 78 attack subs in the late 2040s.
Balancing against other requirements will be difficult. The Navy will still need to keep producing Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, complete with the Virginia-class program, and increase SSN(X) production—while maintaining today’s fleet. The shared design characteristics with the Columbia-class and longer service periods will be envisioned to mitigate the strain, allowing for long-term effectiveness.
It is not only a warship, it’s a declaration. It’s a threat that America will maintain the upper hand below while competitor nations are redoubling their own efforts underwater. And if the Navy can deliver this vision, the SSN(X) won’t merely stay ahead of the future—it will set the future, and establish a standard for the next generation of submarine warfare.