On the cost reduction side, Jabaley said the Navy and industry are developing a Submarines Unified Build Strategy (SUBS) to find efficiencies in materiel acquisition and ship construction schedules between ORP and the Virginia-class attack submarines.
A 2014 cost estimate put the program’s average follow-ship cost — ships two through 12, not including the typically most-expensive lead ship – at $5.2 billion, squarely in between the mandatory threshold of $5.6 billion and the target objective of $4.9 billion. Jabaley added that the 2014 cost estimate put the non-recurring costs – engineering work and building facilities to produce the subs – at $17.4 billion. Updated figures will be publicly released after the DAB approves the Milestone B decision
The first ORP submarine is scheduled to begin construction in 2021 and enter service in 2031.
- X-shaped stern control surfaces (hydroplanes)
- Sail-mounted dive planes
- Electric drive
- Off-the-shelf equipment developed for previous submarine designs (Virginia-class SSNs), including a pump-jet propulsor, anechoic coating and a Large Aperture Bow (LAB) sonar system.
- The boats may also be equipped with a Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical System (SWFTS), a cluster of systems that integrate sonar, optical imaging, weapons control et
Workers stand pose for a photo in the four-tube “quad-pack” built for the U.S. Ohio Replacement-class and U.K. Successor-class. General Dynamics Electric Boat Photo via US Navy
SOURCES – USNI, Wikipedia
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