The US Navy and shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) will convert the future Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine (SSN) USS Baltimore to enable her to support special warfare and seabed warfare missions.
The navy expects the conversion will enable the future Baltimore to take over the special warfare support role and similar duties from USS Jimmy Carter, the third and final Seawolf-class SSN as well as the navy's only special warfare support submarine.
The future Baltimore is still under construction, having been ordered in 2024. Like her Virginia-class sisters, she will be capable of supporting multiple mission areas in littoral and deep waters and can operate at speeds of more than 25 knots for months at a time.
The SSN was previously slated to be fitted with a Virginia payload module, a specially developed module that can house up to 28 guided missiles for striking shore targets. GDEB said that, with the aid of this module, the strike capacity of each Virginia-class submarine will be increased by as much as 230 per cent per ship while increasing overall cost by less than 15 per cent.