Navy’s New Block V Virginia Class: A Submarine Russia or China Can’t Touch

Important points you should know: The Virginia-class Block V submarines, currently under construction in Groton, Connecticut, offer significant improvements over previous blocks and will meet the U.S. Navy’s needs for the next 50 years.

– Designed as a cost-effective alternative to the Seawolf class, the Virginia class costs $1.8 billion per unit, a billion less than Seawolf. Block V introduces the Virginia Payload Module (VPM), allowing it to carry three times as many Tomahawk missiles, crucial to addressing the missile gap with China.

-As China rapidly expands its naval and missile capabilities, the Block V’s increased firepower is intended to counter China’s growing arsenal of intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Block V Virginia-class submarines are currently under construction in Groton, Connecticut. The Navy is clearly excited about the number of upgrades the Block V offers over the previous four Virginia blocks, has ordered many more Block Vs that have not yet entered construction, but are expected to remain in service for half a century after entering service.

Introduction of Block V Virginia

The Virginia class The submarine was designed as a fast attack submarine that was cheaper than the $2.8 billion per unit Sea Wolf-class submarine (of which only three were made). Sea Wolf was an impressive ship, to be sure. But in the post-Cold War era of sequestration, the Sea Wolf the huge price tag became unacceptable, paving the way for the cheaper Virginia-class to gain favor with American war planners. Virginia is not exactly cheap – but at a price of $1.8 billion per unit, the ship costs about a billion dollars less than a Sea Wolf.

In advance, Block I-III Virginia-class submarines are in service. Even a few Block IV Virginia’s are in service. Actually a few more Block IV Virginia’s are on the way, meaning the Block IV is a modern-day acceptable submarine – suggesting the Block V will be particularly advanced.

The Block V was designed to address a very specific and forward-looking problem: the missile gap between the US and China.

Adapting to China

China is currently engaged in one of the largest shipbuilding operations in world history. In addition, China is expanding its air force and its nuclear and conventional arsenals. At the same time, China is making aggressive territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific. All this while the United States has been focused elsewhere – in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has drained American resources without yielding much strategic advantage.

But enjoying the American distraction, China began to convert its latent power into real power—in some ways even surpassing the United States. For example, China now has the world’s largest navy. But perhaps more worrying to the U.S., China has invested heavily in a stockpile of cruise and ballistic missiles. The U.S. has failed to keep pace with China’s missile proliferation, and now there is a missile gap.

Not only has China developed more missiles than the US, but it has also developed missiles with longer ranges than the US. Unfortunately, China is approaching a monopoly on intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region. Of course, the US can build intermediate-range missiles, but chose not to after signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The treaty was a Cold War agreement between the US and the USSR that prohibited the deployment of missiles with an effective range of 500 to 5,000 kilometers. China never signed the treaty and can deploy its intermediate-range missiles anywhere, anytime.

Virginia Payload Module

Trump, recognizing the missile gap, withdrew from the treaty. As a way to close the missile gap, the Virginia-class Block V is being developed with a groundbreaking new concept: the Virginia Payload Module (VPM).

The VPM is a hull plug that allows the submarine to carry three times as many Tomahawk missiles as the Block IV. If the Block V can carry three times as many Tomahawks, this will obviously help close the missile gap once the Block Vs are deployed in the region.

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 articles on issues relating to world affairs. Harrison has been a lawyer, a pilot, a guitarist, and a minor professional hockey player. He joined the U.S. Air Force as a pilot trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

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