Navy to Launch Spy Submarine Jimmy Carter

"Seawolf-class submarines - the first new top-to-bottom attack submarine design since the early 1960s - are the fastest, quietest, most heavily armed undersea vessels in the world.

Seawolf submarines provide the U.S. Navy with undersea weapons platforms that can operate in any scenario against any threat, with mission and growth capabilities that far exceed Los Angeles-class submarines. The robust design of the Seawolf class enables these submarines to perform a wide spectrum of crucial military assignments - from underneath the Arctic icepack to littoral regions anywhere in the world.

Their missions include surveillance, intelligence collection, special warfare, cruise missile strike, mine warfare, and anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare.

Jimmy Carter (SSN23) Modification

Electric Boat is nearing completion of the Jimmy Carter (SSN23), the third and final Seawolf-class submarine, which was modified to accommodate advanced technology for naval special warfare, tactical surveillance and mine warfare operations.

Defense Department studies have described the Navy's need to develop submarines with "improved payload capabilities and a flexible interface with the undersea environment, without sacrificing Seawolf-class warfighting capability." According to the Navy, the Jimmy Carter modification will accomplish these goals.

The $887 million modification required alterations to the basic Seawolf design in the areas of ballast control, mission-management spaces, and various services. A unique feature of the modification was the creation of a flexible ocean interface, referred to as the "wasp waist," which will enable the Navy to deploy and recover various payloads without having to use torpedo tubes.

The Jimmy Carter is scheduled for a 2004 delivery."

"Seawolf Class Statistics
Displacement: 9,137 tons submerged (12,139 tons for the Jimmy Carter)
Length: 353 feet (453 feet for the Jimmy Carter)
Hull Diameter: 40 feet
Draft: 35 feet
Speed: 25+ knots
Diving Depth: 800+ feet
Weapons: Mark 48 anti-submarine torpedoes, Tomahawk cruise missiles
Complement: 130 officers and enlisted men
Stealth: Less detectable at high speed than a Los Angeles-class submarine sitting at pier side."

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