Submarines

[Demon Lord Razgriz]

Good bye USS Los Angles

>snip<

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/ ... 0W-071.jpg
She is in remarkably good looking shape for her age.

Indeed, perhaps she's still good enough to be sold to an allied nation?

And this might be more fitted to be its own thread in the Off Topic section?

[klagldsf]

Indeed, perhaps she's still good enough to be sold to an allied nation?

There are two reasons why Los Angeles is being retired, but it really all boils down to the same reason: it's an old boat.

It's obsolete, and it's surprising that she stuck around as long as she has. She doesn't have any VLS tubes (which frankly, actually, isn't that big of a deal in this target-poor era, as submarines are much more likely to be loaded with Tomahawks in the torpedo tubes anyway, but it hampers her ability to engage in future truly-strategic planning), she's relatively noisy in this day and age (really, if you're not quieter than your enemy, you're noisy - and the Russians and Chinese have quieter boats now, even if only just now, especially in the latter case) and most damning of all, her electronics are old as hell. She still has 386 processors!

But moreover, she's just old. There are a lot of miles on that hull. Ships wear out. Hulls get thinner with friction against the very surface they ride upon. Metal fatigues with stress from riding waves. Things wear out inside just from having people walk around the ship all day. Of course, for the most part this is microscopic, or at best barely macroscopic in scope, but I suspect the big reason, age-wise, why she's being retired is fuel. Long story short, we don't refuel nuke boats anymore, we just retire them. Your latest reactors, because they go so long now, aren't even designed with any provisions for refueling at all - you remove the spent rods when you scrap the ship. And even on ships designed for refueling, it's so expensive, and these ships are often obsolete in a shrinking fleet anyway, that it remains true even for them.

Also, there have already been 688 class boats scrapped ahead of Los Angeles. Yes, newer hulls.

[erik_t]

Current versions of Tomahawk cannot be fired out of 21" torpedo tubes.

[klagldsf]

Oh, didn't know that either.

That further limits Los Angeles' ability to serve in a battlefleet, as it basically means the sub is useless until that theoretical "big one" with China/Russia (it's my understanding these 688 boats are pretty poor at special forces insertion too).

[odysseus1980]

Thank you!

[klagldsf]

Thank you!

You're welcome.

But yeah, the 688's are on their way out, for all the reasons I (and Erik) outlined.

[Sheriff]

The raison d'être for the Gymnote
the nuclear powered SSBN Le Redoutable

comments anyone?

Would an SNLE be carrying SM.39 Exocet?

[Novice]

The raison d'être for the Gymnote
the nuclear powered SSBN Le Redoutable

comments anyone?

Would an SNLE be carrying SM.39 Exocet?

Well, according to French Navy official site the answer is yes.

[odysseus1980]

Thanks for SNLE Redoutable! Now newer SNLE family members should follow,such as Le Triomphant.

[Novice]

Thanks for SNLE Redoutable! Now newer SNLE family members should follow,such as Le Triomphant.

On the stock thanks to Darthpanda