Virginia-class Submarine

The Virginia-class is the U.S. Navy's primary nuclear attack submarine, designed for anti-submarine warfare, strike, intelligence gathering, and special-operations support. Early hulls carried 12 vertical-launch Tomahawk cells; Block V variants add the 84-foot Virginia Payload Module, increasing Tomahawk capacity to 40 per boat.

Built jointly by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Newport News, the class is replacing the retiring Los Angeles-class and represents the centerpiece of future U.S. undersea capability, including as the platform under the AUKUS partnership with Australia.

The upcoming SSN(X) next-generation attack submarine will eventually succeed the Virginia, but Block V–VII Virginias are expected to remain in production into the 2030s.

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