What is the difference between attack and ballistic submarines

But it's good-natured because increasingly in today's Navy, sailors serve on both types of boats. Jack Francis, who has served on both attack and ballistic missile subs. Boomer subs are larger, and while still cramped by everyday standards they're roomier than attack subs.

And each boomer has two crews who rotate taking the boat on patrol. Patrols last about 70 days, whereas fast-attack sub crews often deploy for six months at a time. In general, a boomer's mission is to patrol the ocean undetected, providing a deterrent to nuclear attack against the United States. Attack subs deploy with battle groups, taking part in missions where they can lob cruise missiles against enemy targets. We like to think that both contribute to national defense in about the same degree.

Late last year, one Trident commander who spent much of his career on fast-attack subs, wrote an article in the magazine Undersea Warfare dispelling many of the myths that lead to the rather one-sided rivalry. The only real distinction, he said, is that boomer sailors had to learn the "additional complexity of operating strategic weapons systems.

In deterring the use of weapons of mass destruction, we shoulder a heavy responsibility in our dangerous and constantly changing world. Most submarines today are conventionally powered diesel-electric and tend to be smaller and cheaper to maintain. Nuclear-powered submarines run off of steam generated by an onboard nuclear reactor that turns the turbines.

Having a source of power that runs for so long means that they can remain submerged for years — effectively limited only by the food and water needs of their crews — limiting their detection. There are six countries with nuclear-powered submarines. Australia has stressed that the submarines being nuclear-powered does not mean they will be carrying nuclear warheads. The first nuclear-powered submarine was built by the US in Named the USS Nautilus, the 97m foot vessel was much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it.

Today, Russia has 49 submarines, including 29 nuclear-powered ones, of which 11 are capable of launching long-range ballistic missiles. China built its first nuclear-powered submarine in Beijing has at least 59 operational submarines, 12 are nuclear-powered and half of those are SSBNs.

Canberra wants attack subs -- the jack-of-all-trades backbones of the US and UK sub fleets. The US has three classes of attack subs in its fleet of The newest of these are the 19 of what's called Virginia class.

Armed with dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes, the foot, 8,ton Virginia-class subs can cruise at more than 28 mph 46 kph and stay submerged indefinitely. Their time underwater is limited only by the need to resupply provisions for the crew of The sub doesn't even have a periscope.

Rather it uses a photonics mast -- a piece of electronic wizardry that includes high-definition and infrared video -- to monitor the battlespace. The information is displayed on large screens in the command center, with a joystick controlling the whole show. The UK's four Astute-class attack subs are even faster than the US subs, capable of more than 35 mph 56 kph submerged, and like the US carry the Tomahawk cruise missile. It has a longer range than its predecessors well in excess of 1, miles , can be directed at a new target in mid-flight, and can also beam back images of the battlefield to its mother submarine," the Royal Navy's website says.

That's the kind of firepower and endurance Australia wants as it looks to protect its northern waters from any naval threats and project its naval power into the South China Sea, where it, along with the United States, looks to blunt Chinese influence and protect freedom of navigation.

Ballistic missile submarines. Their mission, essentially, is to stay at sea for months at a time, the vast majority of it submerged, and be prepared to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike should an adversary launch one of their own against the UK or US. The ballistic-missile submarine USS Pennsylvania returns home to its Washington state homeport following a strategic deterrence patrol in Ballistic missile subs are quiet beneath the waves and extremely hard to detect.

They are the linchpin of deterrence, assuring that an adversary of the US or UK would pay a horrific price for a first-strike nuclear attack. Each of the US ballistic missile subs can carry 20 Trident missiles 16 for the UK subs with as many as eight warheads three for the UK subs per missile. They are able to be shot over a range of 4, miles 7, kilometers.