This week, the U.S. Navy announced that it will reclassify 19 upcoming Block V and VI Virginia-class nuclear fast-attack submarines, known as SSNs, as nuclear guided missile submarines, or SSGNs, instead. And the shift from dedicated fast-attack submarines tasked with hunting enemy vessels on the high seas toward a new balance that equally emphasizes the land-attack mission leaves me wondering… Will dedicated attack subs soon become a thing of the past, as we witness the rise of the multi-role submarine? Or… are we learning the wrong lessons from the past 80 years of relative stability between global powers?

Source: America’s Attack Submarines Are Becoming Something Else