U.S. SSNs: Excellent S.W.O.T. Analysis

Background

U.S. Navy submarines have been the world's preeminent submarine force since WWII.

S.W.O.T. Analysis is commonly the paramount planning vehicle used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in major business ventures. Neglect at your civilization's peril the structured S.W.O.T. methodology's rigorous and advantageous application to military strategy. Critical parallels are intensely identical.  Submarines, even in the same class must not be identical, however.

Five Reasons Virginia-Class Subs Are The Face Of Future Warfare

The article linked in the above subheading should be elucidating only to average pedestrians without an insider's knowledge of the U.S.submarine force.  In fact, it is probably the most succinct and penetrating expose that I have ever read in the mainstream (well, in the business press, anyway). 

If the word “submarine” makes you think of undersea warfare and protecting surface ships, then you only have the Old Testament part of the story.  Modern attack subs do a whole lot more, like covertly collecting intelligence that can’t be obtained any other way, precisely striking distant land targets, delivering special operators ashore on secret missions, and the like.  The Navy has good reason not to talk about such missions in public, but because the Virginia program runs silent and runs deep in popular culture, most people don’t realize that it is more than just a very big and successful weapons program — it may be the face of future warfare.  

Four of the five "Reasons" Virginia class subs are expected to be "The Face of Future Warefare" have been advertised since before SSN-774 was launched almost eleven years ago.  In review, the four no-surprises are:

• Stealth 
• Endurance 
• Versatility
• Evolution

(read more about each reason in the link above)

Now, to be clear, the fifth reason should hardly be any real surprise to qualified U.S. submariners.  It is, in fact, just business as usual for our attack (SSN) submarine fleet:

(from July 15, 2011) "Question #4: Which of the USS Ohio (SSGN-726) class subs, if any, also has a bunker buster (MOP) capability? What, you thought all submarines of a class were identical and their capabilities accurately disclosed publicly by Wikipedia?" 

The Leverage Revealed

"When you combine the stealth, endurance and versatility of the Virginia class, the result is a genuinely unique combat system providing potentially decisive warfighting leverage against even the most capable adversaries.  It can deny the Chinese or Russian navies access to the sea, destroy targets deep in the Eurasian or African interiors without warning, and intercept the most sensitive communications of dictators and terrorists.  It can even potentially blunt nuclear attacks on the American homeland by destroying the sea-going strategic forces of other nations.  This is a form of leverage no other nation will be able to claim in future conflicts, due mainly to the fact that only America plans to field such a large and capable fleet of attack subs."

The Block V contract, scheduled to commence in 2019, will triple the capacity of each boat to attack targets ashore, further contributing to Virginia’s technological evolution. Leverage will proceed from the possible presence of any of the by then 40 stealth Virginia class boats, each of unique capabilities and unknown inabilities.

 

In other words, a potential enemy who even begins to imagine he may have detected a Virginia, will still not know for certain what capabilities he may actually have to confront.  Therefore, he must assume the worst case, and guess that he would even know what that might be!

Submarines are always silent and strange.