The U.S. Navy will extend the service life of up to five Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons

Up to five Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles will serve longer. These are the plans the U.S. Navy has in place.

Here's What We Know

The SSBN service life extension was announced by Rear Admiral Scott Pappano, executive director of the Strategic Submarine Programme. The first will be the nuclear-powered submarine USS Alaska (SSBN 732).

The maintenance period will take 18 months. It will extend the SSBN's service life by three years. A decision on the USS Alaska (SSBN 732) nuclear-powered submarine will be made by fiscal year 2029, before the first next-generation Columbia-class SSBN is completed.

The Ohio class has gone through several modernisations. The submarines were originally designed for 30 years of service. However, the U.S. Navy regularly modernised the submarines, allowing them to remain in service for more than four decades.

The decision to extend the service life was included in the US Navy's long-term planning documents. However, Scott Pappano said the military service would be able to cancel the modernisation of nuclear submarines if necessary.

The US Navy has 18 Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines in service. 14 of them are carriers of Trident II (D5) intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads and a maximum launch range of more than 12,000 kilometres.

Source: Breaking Defence