While the focus of the U.S. naval industry is centered on the construction of the new generation of nuclear-powered submarines—comprising the Virginia- and Columbia-class programs—the United States Navy (US Navy) continues to pursue plans aimed at ensuring this transition without losing response and deterrence capabilities, or creating gaps between units being retired and new platforms entering service. This approach is reflected in various initiatives intended to maintain the operational readiness of previous generations of nuclear-powered submarines, recently reaching a major milestone with the completion of the service life extension work on USS Cheyenne (SSN-773), the last unit built and commissioned of the Los Angeles class.
Comprising a total of 62 units built between 1972 and 1996, the Los Angeles class became the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s fast-attack submarine fleet during the final years of the Cold War. Although its replacement began with the adoption of the more modern and advanced Seawolf class, the end of the confrontation with the Soviet Union led to budget reductions and shifts in strategic priorities, ultimately leaving the Virginia class—in its successive variants—as its true successor.
Currently, of the 62 submarines built, 23 units remain in active service, with USS Cheyenne (SSN-773) being the last constructed and commissioned, in 1996. For this reason, and in order to ensure a smooth transition to the Virginia class—which is moving toward the completion of Block IV and the construction of Block V, with Block VI units already being projected—the U.S. Navy launched the so-called Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) for the Los Angeles-class submarines with the greatest remaining potential.
In this context, USS Cheyenne was selected to undergo the service life extension work, a milestone carried out at the facilities of, and by personnel from, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and completed with its delivery back to the U.S. Navy on December 23.
The Navy highlighted that shipyard personnel “worked alongside the submarine’s crew to return Cheyenne to the fleet as a combat-ready naval asset, an achievement that advances the effort to close the attack submarine operational gap. This milestone ensures that the U.S. Submarine Force remains the world’s most lethal, capable, and feared combat force.”
For his part, Captain Jesse Nice, commanding officer of the shipyard, emphasized: “The Service Life Extension Program, beginning with Cheyenne, is of critical importance to the overall health of the attack submarine community and to the strength of our Navy in any future conflict,” adding: “The Cheyenne project team has paved the way for us as a shipyard, establishing the successful execution of a Los Angeles-class submarine refueling, as well as the overhaul and modernization of a submarine that is in an advanced stage of its service life.”
The statements made by naval leadership are significant, as the completion of the SLEP ensures that USS Cheyenne will extend its service life to 44 years, while also validating the feasibility of applying the program to other Los Angeles-class units with remaining potential.
Although no further details were provided or mentioned, the U.S. Navy reportedly already has a total of six submarines selected with the potential to undergo the SLEP. The program not only includes structural work on the submarine’s hull and the refueling of its nuclear reactor, but also incorporates new upgrades to combat, sonar, communications, and crew habitability systems. Among these improvements are the new AN/BQQ-10 sonar processing system and the new AN/BYG-1 combat system suite.
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