The U.S. Navy’s Ohio-Class Missile Submarine Nightmare Is Just Getting Started

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Key Points: The U.S. Navy plans to retire its four Ohio-class SSGN submarines between 2026 and 2028, significantly reducing its Tomahawk missile capacity and special operations capabilities.

-These Cold War-era subs, which can carry up to 154 Tomahawks each, have been vital for U.S. military strategy.

-The Block V Virginia-class submarines with the Virginia Payload Module are intended replacements but fall short of matching the Ohio-class’s firepower.

-Delays and cost overruns in Virginia-class and Columbia-Class submarine production exacerbate the problem, prompting calls to delay the Ohio-class retirement.

U.S. Navy’s Ohio-Class Submarines: A Retirement Too Soon?

It’s the end of an era. The U.S. Navy will finally retire all of its Ohio-class SSGN attack submarines.

The four nuclear-powered guided missile boats have served valiantly for over 40 years.

They will be phased out in the next four years. 

This comes when submarines are badly needed for their remarkable range and firepower. 

The U.S. Navy is already struggling to compete with China in terms of the number of ships it can produce each year. Building submarines also takes significant amounts of money and time, and not having Ohio-class subs in operation in the coming years will hurt the Navy’s overall strength.

The big reason this hurts the U.S. military so bad: those Ohio-class subs are stacked with Tomahawk cruise missiles that won’t be easy to replace. 

Excellent Service Record 

The maritime branch will retire the USS Ohio and Florida in 2026. The USS Michigan and Georgia will be taken out of service in 2028. 

Built in the early 1980s, these boats were Cold War stalwarts that served well during Operation Desert Storm and the Global War on Terror.

Massive Firepower and Important SEAL Delivery Feature 

The subs are fantastic when you consider how much firepower they can bring to bear. 

The Ohio-class could initially launch Trident nuclear ballistic missiles and Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles at the enemy. 

The boats can now carry 154 Tomahawk missiles after being converted from SSBN “boomers” to SSGN fast-attack guided-missile subs in the 1990s. 

They also launch Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

The Ohio-class boats are also useful in special operations forces warfare. They are known for stealthily bringing Navy SEALs into combat. They can carry 66 SEALs and deploy them anywhere in the world.

Losing the Ohio-class submarines will hurt the Navy. They make up “nearly half of the vertical launch payload capacity of the [entire] Submarine Force,” according to Naval News.

Can the Virginia-class Submarines Replace the Firepower?

The Navy knew this would be a problem and began acquiring Block V Virginia-class submarines. These will have the vaunted Virginia Payload Module, which comes equipped with four large-diameter vertical launch tubes. These hold seven Tomahawks, for a total of 28 land-attack cruise missiles.

However, to re-claim the firepower lost by the retirement of the Ohio-class subs, the Navy will have to buy additional Block V Virginia-class subs, perhaps up to 22 Block V Virginia-class boats that may be ready for a while.

That’s not all. The Navy is aiming to replace the Ohios with the new Columbia-class submarines, making the situation difficult for the maritime branch. 

The Navy is losing firepower from the reduced number of deployed Tomahawks on the Ohio-class subs, and it must wait until an entirely new class of subs is ready to come online.

Schedule Slips and Cost Over-runs

The Navy is facing a common excuse offered by shipbuilders. Supply chains were snarled during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in delays. The Block V Virginia-Class boats and the Columbia-class subs are behind schedule. American shipbuilders also face workforce shortfalls due to a lack of skilled workers. 

The Columbia-Class is a high-priority acquisition program. The Navy plans to spend $130 billion to acquire 12 Columbia-class submarines, but the first of this class will be over a year late and has ballooned to over a hundred million dollars in extra costs.

Bloomberg reported this year that the Navy’s “new Virginia-class submarines are projected to run $17 billion over their planned budget through 2030.”

What About Keeping the Ohio-Class SSGNs In Service?

Due to these problems, the Navy may choose to delay the retirement of the Ohio-class boats. They are still needed, and until the issues with the Virginia-class and Columbia-class subs are rectified, the Navy will be in a pickle. 

China continues to build ships with numbers that are eclipsing those of the United States. It doesn’t make sense for the navy to lose the firepower of the Ohios when the new subs meant to replace them either aren’t ready or are facing massive cost overruns.

The Ohio-class subs will thus be extremely consequential in future years. This problem will bedevil the new U.S. Secretary of Defense. The Chinese military has a capability gap and a missile gap.

If the Cold War with China continues, 21st-century warfare will become a missile fight. The war in Ukraine has shown that missile stocks can be depleted quickly after prolonged combat periods. 

The Navy should internalize this lesson and attempt to solve its shipyard problems to get the new submarine production back in line. Otherwise, it will lose the heavy firepower of the Ohio-class for good.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood 

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.