The US Navy has announced that it has commissioned the 23rd Virginia -class attack submarine USS “New Jersey” (SSN-796).
The Submarine’s construction began in March 2019 and was launched in August 2021. The total requirement of the US Navy is 66 submarines of the class. To date, 23 submarines have entered service, including four of the Block 1 configurations (2004-2008), six of the Block 2 configuration (2008-2013), eight of the Block 3 versions (2014-2020) and five of the configuration Block IV (2020-2024).
Three Virginias of the Block IV configuration has been decommissioned, two are under construction, and six Block V configuration submarines are under construction. Four additional submarines (Block V) have been ordered, but their construction has not yet begun.
The average cost of each “Virginia” in 2023 is $4.3 billion. The submarines have a displacement of 7,900 tons, while the Block V configuration submarines will have a displacement of 10,200 tons. The length is 115 meters (140 meters will be the length of Block V).
They are nuclear-powered and reach a maximum speed of over 25 knots (46 kilometres per hour).
Their armament consists of BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, UGM-84 Harpoon missiles and 533mm torpedoes.
