Highlighting the importance of submarines to modern naval operations, for more than a decade, the U.S. Navy has been identifying the Columbia-class shipbuilding program as the most important, ahead even of the Ford-class aircraft carrier.
The new Navy Columbia-Class SSBNs will be the largest submarines ever built by the United States. Each of the planned dozen boats will be 560 feet in length and have a beam of 43 feet.
The Navy’s Ohio-class guided missile submarines (SSGN and SSBN variants) are a critical component of the service’s apparatus. While they were slated for retirement starting in 2027, that seems to be getting delayed.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an annual defense spending bill on a bipartisan vote Thursday, sending legislation to the president that includes billions for Connecticut defense sector manufacturers.