Another "growth" mission for submarines in the 1990s has been intelligence gathering, though obviously with less of a focus on the former Soviet Union. The end of the USSR in 1991 freed up American and British boats to keep an eye on a number of other "hot" spots around the world and provide the intelligence services with even more tools and resources to keep an eye and ear on things. One recent example of this probably occurred following the in-flight collision of a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries electronic surveillance aircraft and a Chinese J-8 interceptor over the South China Sea. Though there was a "gap" in the coverage for the U.S. from the air prior to the flights being resumed, rest assured that electronic and communications activity along the Chinese coast was probably being monitored by one or more U.S. submarines. Not only did this fulfill our minimum intelligence-collection requirements, but it also maintained a covert discretion that surface ships and aircraft cannot maintain.
Finally, there are the now-mundane but terribly vital jobs that nuclear boats did throughout the Cold War: watching and tracking the ships and submarines of potential enemies and hostile nations around the world. This has meant that in addition to watching the dwindling fleet of Russian ships and submarines, U.S. and British boats have been keeping an eye on those nations who were quietly developing their own fleets in the 1990s. This may sound surprising, given the worldwide drawdown of naval and submarine forces that followed the end of the Cold War. However, a number of countries began to build up their naval forces in the decade just past, and American and British submarines were out there, watching them every important step of the way.
Into the Twenty-first Century: Submarine Forces at the Millennium
There has been good news and bad news for the submarine forces of the United States and Great Britain. The good news is that due to the demise of the USSR, several regional economic downturns, and the general outbreak of peace, the size of the worldwide submarine force has shrunken to a fraction of its Cold War peak. Literally hundreds of submarines, from ancient diesel boats to state-of-the-art nuclear attack and missile submarines, were taken out of service. In the most radical cases, some of the units from the former Soviet fleet were just driven up onto shore and ditched like whales beaching themselves to die. It was a pitiful ending for the world's largest submarine force.
The bad news is that the submarines that remain in worldwide use are generally the pick of the litter: the best every nation still operating them can afford to maintain. This means that if a shooting war ever breaks out, the boats and captains facing U.S. and British submarine skippers will likely be very capable enemies indeed. Then there is the matter of those nations that have failed to notice the general outbreak of peace in the 1990s. Countries like China, Iran, and India have been building up their navies, and at the core of these efforts have been the expansion of their submarine forces. Many of these have been exported Russian Project 877/Kilo-class diesel/electric submarines (SSKs), armed with some of the best weapons ever offered for sale on the open market.
Similarly, the U.S. and many of our allies are producing the finest submarines, skippers, crews, and weapons that their treasuries can buy. However, these forces will be largely based on "legacy" designs like the 688Is and Trafalgars, with only limited numbers of new boats to replace the many units that were retired in the 1990s. This means that friendly forces will have to make do with what they have while the new designs mature and come into service. While there can be little doubt of the outcome of a one-on-one battle between a U.S. or British SSN and a submarine from some rogue nation, there is always the small chance that the "bad guys" will score a lucky "kill." The gods of war are a fickle lot, and the worst frequently happens when ordnance begins to fly. Given the public reaction to the loss of eighteen U.S. special operations soldiers in Somalia in 1993, one can only imagine what the national reaction might be to the loss of a billion-dollar-plus nuclear boat and over a hundred sailors. The accidental loss of the Russian Kursk (K-141) in the summer of 2000 gave everyone who operates submarines a shock, and something to think about as they headed into the new millennium.
So what does this all mean in terms of numbers of boats? Well, not as many as the leaders of the U.S. or British navies would like, of course. From a Cold War high of almost 100 and 20, respectively, the totals have dropped to around half that. Today, the Americans plan on maintaining a force of around fifty SSNs, while the British are hard-pressed to keep ten to twelve in service. This represents a very small number of platforms to accomplish a large range of missions. We are thankfully without an active naval conflict to fight, and this number will have to do.
The Seawolf (SSN-21) Class: The Ultimate Cold War Attack Boat
Without a doubt, the most advanced submarine ever to enter service did so at a grand commissioning ceremony on July 19, 1997 in Groton, Connecticut. The USS Seawolf (given the hull number SSN-21) was to be the touchstone of the U.S. Navy's submarine forces' transition into the twenty-first century.[15] Certainly Seawolf is an impressive foreshadowing of technological advances to come, though this is achieved at an almost unacceptable cost. Also, as impressive as Seawolf is, she is not without her share of disputes and detractors. In fact, Seawolf has often been referred to as the most controversial submarine in American history, and there is a lot of truth to this claim.
Authorized to the defense budget in fiscal year 1989 (FY89), Seawolf was originally intended to be the lead unit of a class of almost thirty boats. This revolutionary sub was designed to succeed the Improved Los Angeles (688I) class attack submarines. As such, she falls into the same class of weapons as the F-22A Raptor fighter and B-2A Spirit bomber: unlimited Cold War designs put into production with little concern for cost at their time of conception. In this regard she is a success, as Seawolf is reported to be an improvement over the Los Angeles-class boats in nearly every aspect. The biggest pure attack submarine ever built, Seawolf also was the last SSN to bear the imprint of the father of America's nuclear navy, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. In particular, the Seawolf's S6W reactor was the last whose development he supervised, the crowning achievement of his career in many ways. Perhaps the most important improvements over the 688Is were in the areas of machinery quieting, sensors and electronics, and weapons load-out and handling. All of this will be covered later, but first let's examine the post-Cold War environment to get a better idea of why the Seawolf became such a hotly debated design.
15
Technically,