The US Navy will extend the service life of Ohio-class submarines equipped with Trident ICBMs with nuclear warheads

The US Navy intends to invest in extending the service life of some nuclear submarines

Ohio class. The funds will be invested from fiscal year (FY) 2025.

What is known

We are talking about nuclear submarines equippedTrident II intercontinental ballistic missiles. Each missile can carry multiple nuclear warheads. The maximum launch range is more than 12,000 km. Up to 20 missiles are placed on board one submarine.


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The US Navy wants to have a minimum of 10 Ohio-class submarines in service at any given time. At the moment, the fleet consists of 14 nuclear submarines:

  • USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730);
  • USS Alabama (SSBN-731);
  • USS Alaska (SSBN-732);
  • USS Nevada (SSBN-733);
  • USS Tennessee (SSBN-734);
  • USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735);
  • USS West Virginia (SSBN-736);
  • USS Kentucky (SSBN-737);
  • USS Maryland (SSBN-738);
  • USS Nebraska (SSBN-739);
  • USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740);
  • USS Maine (SSBN-741);
  • USS Wyoming (SSBN-742);
  • USS Louisiana (SSBN-743).

In the 2030s, the US Navy will begin to take onthe Columbia-class submarines will be armed, and the Ohio submarines will be retired. For insurance, the service wants to extend the life of some Ohio submarines by several years.


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Officials said last year thata final decision will be made in FY2026 and work on this will begin in FY2029. However, US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said this month that funds will be budgeted for FY2025.