The Next Generation Boomers

I continue my long journey through the modernization of the US nuclear deterrent with the Columbia class ballistic missile submarines:

The bothersome part of the SSBN replacement plan is that it does not, in any material way, improve the national security position of the United States over what holds now.

The SSBN force is the most survivable component of the U.S. nuclear triad, and as older boats age and technologies slip from the cutting edge, and expensive replacement strategy is necessary. The Columbias will undoubtedly be very good at hiding, and very good at preparing to launch missiles at Russian and Chinese targets. Still, they won’t be notably better at that job than the Ohios were in their heyday.

The problem for the Navy is that the Columbias are a priority budget project that can’t be touched. Yet, the Navy will never see any meaningful combat value from the boats (except some kind of conversion to other combat roles, such as the four Ohio class subs converted into cruise missile platforms).

See previous entries on the Sentinel ICBM and the B-21 Raider. Some other links:

• Trump’s horrifying cadre of foreign policy advisors…
• Diplomatic competition between India and China over Ukraine…
• Insights from a decade of China wargames…
• India continues to build out its own SSBN force…
• On India’s growing space program…
• On Trump’s complicated relationship with the norms and traditions of military culture…