Attack Submarines

After the appearance of nuclear strategic submarines, it seemed that only other nuclear submarines could maneuver in three dimensions and maintain contact long enough to destroy them. Surface ships were at a clear disadvantage, since their sonar systems could not be operated as freely as submarines. This situation changed somewhat when surface warships began to tow passive sonar systems to submarine-like depths, giving homing torpedoes launched from ships and helicopters a better chance to lock on to targets and destroy them. Thus, both submarines and surface ships became effective anti-submarine weapons, but only submarines could operate close to enemy bases, where they could easily detect enemy submarines and ambush them, with little chance of being detected. For these reasons, it became inevitable that a navy with strategic nuclear submarines would also build attack nuclear submarines.

Almost all modern nuclear attack submarines perform two basic functions: attacking enemy surface ships and destroying enemy submarines. Some have expanded these basic functions to include additional tasks, the most important of which is the ability to attack enemy facilities on land. Other missions that remained important for submarine navies after the Cold War include minelaying, electronic intelligence gathering, and special operations support. A good example of this evolution are the four generations of U.S. nuclear attack submarines during and after the Cold War: Los Angeles class, 51 vessels commissioned between 1976 and 1996; Seawolf class, three vessels commissioned between 1997 and 2005; Virginia class, 18 vessels planned, the first of which was commissioned in 2004. Designed at the height of the Cold War, the Sturgeon and Los Angeles submarines initially carried not only conventional anti-submarine torpedoes but also rocket-launched nuclear depth charges, known as SUBROCs.