An arsenal ship is a concept for a floating missile platform intended to have as many as five hundred vertical launch bays for large-sized missiles, most likely cruise missiles. In current U.S. naval thinking, such a ship would initially be controlled manually by an Aegis Cruiser, although plans that have long since been scrapped included control by AEW&C aircraft such as the E-2 Hawkeye and E-3 Sentry.
Originally proposed by VADM Joseph Metcalf, DCNO Surface Warfare, as a component of the "Surface Combatants of the 21st Century" initiative in the mid-1980's. Later, proposed by the U.S. Navy in 1996, the arsenal ship had funding problems, with the United States Congress canceling some funding, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) providing some funding to individual contractors for prototypes. Some concept artwork of the Arsenal Ship was produced, with some images bearing the number "72", possibly hinting at an intent to classify the arsenal ships as a battleship, since the last battleship ordered (but never built) was USS Louisiana (BB-71).[ citation needed ]
The arsenal ship would have a small crew and as many as 500 vertical launch tubes for missiles to provide ship-to-shore bombardment for invading troops. The Navy calculated a $450 million price for the arsenal ship, but Congress scrapped funding for the project in 1998. [1]
The U.S. Navy has since modified the four oldest Ohio-class Trident submarines to SSGN configuration, allowing them to carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles using vertical launching systems installed in the tubes which previously held strategic ballistic missiles, creating a vessel roughly equivalent to the arsenal ship concept. [2]
In 2013, Huntington Ingalls Industries revived the idea when it proposed a Flight II version of the LPD-17 hull with a variant carrying up to 288 VLS cells for the ballistic missile defense and precision strike missions. [3] [4]
China has conducted studies and tested models of partially and completely submersible arsenal ship concepts. [5] South Korea is also planning to deploy three arsenal ships by the late 2020s. [6] [7] These South Korean arsenal ships are designated "Joint Strike Ships", or "JSS". [8]
A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.
The Ohio class of nuclear-powered submarines includes the United States Navy's 14 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and its four cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). Each displacing 18,750 tons submerged, the Ohio-class boats are the largest submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy. They are also the third-largest submarines ever built, behind the Russian Navy's Soviet era 48,000-ton Typhoon class, the last of which was retired in 2023, and 24,000-ton Borei class. Capable of carrying 24 Trident II missiles apiece, the Ohio class are equipped with just as many missiles as, if not more than, either the Borei class (16) or the deactivated Typhoon class (20).
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capability. They can fire missiles thousands of kilometers from their targets, and acoustic quieting makes them difficult to detect, thus making them a survivable deterrent in the event of a first strike and a key element of the mutual assured destruction policy of nuclear deterrence. The deployment of ballistic missile submarines is dominated by the United States and Russia. Smaller numbers are in service with France, the United Kingdom, China and India; North Korea is also suspected to have an experimental submarine that is diesel-electric powered.
USS Ohio (SSBN-726/SSGN-726), the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), is the fourth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Ohio. She was commissioned with the hull designation of SSBN-726, and with her conversion to a guided missile submarine she was re-designated SSGN-726.
USS Michigan (SSBN-727/SSGN-727) is an Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine (SSGN), converted from a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), that is part of the United States Navy. She is the third vessel to bear the name of the U.S. state of Michigan.
A cruise missile submarine is a submarine that carries and launches cruise missiles as its primary armament. Missiles greatly enhance a warship's ability to attack surface combatants and strike land targets; although torpedoes are a more discreet option for submerged submarines, missiles give a much longer stand-off range, shorter time to impact the target, as well as the ability to engage multiple targets on different headings at the same time. Many cruise missile submarines retain the capability to deploy nuclear warheads on their missiles, but they are considered distinct from ballistic missile submarines due to the substantial differences between the two weapons systems' flight characteristics; cruise missiles fly aerodynamically using flight surfaces like wings or fins, while a ballistic missile uses its engine power alone as it may exit the atmosphere.
USS Georgia (SSBN-729/SSGN-729), an Ohio-class cruise missile submarine, is the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Georgia.
USS Florida (SSBN-728/SSGN-728), an Ohio-class cruise missile submarine, is the sixth vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Florida. She was commissioned with the hull designation of SSBN-728; with her conversion to a cruise missile submarine, from a ballistic missile submarine, she was re-designated SSGN-728.
A submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a submarine. Current versions are typically standoff weapons known as land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), which are used to attack predetermined land targets with conventional or nuclear payloads. Anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) are also used, and some submarine-launched cruise missiles have variants for both functions.
The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.
There are three major types of submarines in the United States Navy: ballistic missile submarines, attack submarines, and cruise missile submarines. All submarines currently in the U.S. Navy are nuclear-powered. Ballistic missile submarines have a single strategic mission of carrying nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Attack submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and subs, launching cruise missiles, and gathering intelligence. Cruise missile submarines perform many of the same missions as attack submarines, but with a focus on their ability to carry and launch larger quantities of cruise missiles than typical attack submarines.
Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task.
SC-21 was a research and development program started in 1994 intended to design land attack ships for the United States Navy. A wide variety of designs were created and extensively examined, including an arsenal ship with 500 cruise missiles. Eventually a "tumblehome" design of around 16,000 tons with two long-range guns and 128 missile tubes was selected as the DD-21, the Destroyer for the 21st century. The program ended in November 2001.
Admiral John Harold Sides was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet from 1960 to 1963 and was known as the father of the Navy's guided-missile program.
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), is a missile in current production for the United States Navy (USN). It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes, providing capability against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land, and terminal ballistic missile defense. It can also be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile. The missile uses the airframe of the earlier SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile, adding the active radar homing seeker from the AIM-120C AMRAAM in place of the semi‑active seeker of the previous design. This will improve the capability of the Standard missile against highly agile targets and targets beyond the effective range of the launching vessels' target illumination radars. Initial operating capability was planned for 2013 and was achieved on 27 November 2013. The SM-6 is not meant to replace the SM-2 series of missiles but will serve alongside and provide extended range and increased firepower. It was approved for export in January 2017. An air-to-air variant of the SM-6, known as the AIM-174, is the first dedicated long-range air-to-air missile employed by the USN since the 2004 retirement of the AIM-54 Phoenix. SM-6 can also be fired from the U.S. Army's Typhon missile launcher as part of the Strategic Mid-range Fires System (SMRF).
The United States battleship retirement debate was a debate among the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Congress, and independent groups over the effectiveness of naval gunfire support (NGFS) provided by Iowa-class battleships, and whether an alternative should be implemented. The debate centered on the best way to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops near a shoreline.
STRAT-X, or Strategic-Experimental, was a U.S. government-sponsored study conducted during 1966 and 1967 that comprehensively analyzed the potential future of the U.S. nuclear deterrent force. At the time, the Soviet Union was making significant strides in nuclear weapons delivery, and also constructing anti-ballistic missile defenses to protect strategic facilities. To address a potential technological gap between the two superpowers, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara entrusted the classified STRAT-X study to the Institute for Defense Analyses, which compiled a twenty-volume report in nine months. The report looked into more than one hundred different weapons systems, ultimately resulting in the MGM-134 Midgetman and LGM-118 Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Ohio-class submarines, and the Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles, among others. Journalists have regarded STRAT-X as a major influence on the course of U.S. nuclear policy.
Jacob Lawrence Shuford was a rear admiral of the United States Navy. His career included service in the Cold War, Kosovo War, and Operation Desert Fox. He commanded surface combatants, served on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretary of the Navy, coordinated Navy legislative activities in the United States Senate, and his final assignment as President of the Naval War College.
Randy B. Crites is a retired vice admiral of the United States Navy. He last served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration of Capabilities and Resources from May 15, 2020, to 2023. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget, and as director of the Fiscal Management Division in Washington, D.C., until he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in 2020. Prior he served as the Director of OPNAV N81 Assessments Division, as Director of the Maritime Headquarters at United States Pacific Fleet, as Commander Submarine Group 10, and as Commanding officer of USS West Virginia (SSBN-736) and USS Florida (SSGN-728).
Aegis system equipped vessels (ASEV) or (Japanese: イージス・システム搭載艦) are a pair of ballistic missile defense (BMD) warships under construction to be operated by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) as dedicated sea-based BMD platforms, serving as an alternative to Japan's now-cancelled land-based Aegis Ashore BMD system.
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Also in the works is a 5,000-ton 'Arsenal Ship'-- a mobile missile platform, derived from South Korea's existing KDX-II destroyer design, capable of saturated cruise missile strikes against land and surface targets.
[South] Korean military plans to deploy three 5,000 tons arsenal ships by the late 2020s, equipped with over 80 land attack cruise missiles to strike land-based targets as a 'sailing missile base'.
...the future Arsenal ship (known locally as Joint Strike Ship)...