Nuclear powered hunter-killer (Atomgetriebenes Jagd-U-Boot)

A nuclear-powered hunter-killer serves both the Enlightenment and the attack on enemy ships, another important task is to protect the larger submarines with ballistic missiles(SSBN / SNLE). The official name of the NATO for nuclear-powered submarines is hunting SSN ( English Ship Submersible Nuclear ) or SNA ( French sous-marin nucléaire d'attaque ).

Armament

SSN / SNA are now mostly with torpedoes armed and guided missiles. So some submarines are U.S. and Britain also with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon missiles equipped. These were first introduced in the Second Gulf War in 1991 are used.
The American and Russian Navy nuclear-powered hunting use submarines to protect the missile boats of the Ohio or Typhoon class .
The first and only successful attack of an SSN on an enemy ship came in 1982 in the Falklands War , as the HMS Conqueror with two torpedoes the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk.

History

With the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) , the U.S. Navy set in 1954, the first SSN and the first nuclear-powered submarine in service at all. The Soviet Navy withdrew in 1958 with theLeninsky Komsomol after. In 1963 the Royal Navy, the first European SSN, the HMS Dreadnought (S101) into service. Twenty years later, France established with the Rubis (S 601) his first SSN. As early as 1974, China had a SSN of Han-class entered service.
All of these countries continue to build SSN.

Current and future SSN classes

United States Navy:

• Los Angeles-class (some already decommissioned)
• Seawolf class
• Virginia-Klasse

Royal Navy:

• Trafalgar-class (some already decommissioned)
• Urban-Klasse - im Bau

Russian Navy :

• Victor III class (some already decommissioned)
• Sierra Class
• Akula-class (some already decommissioned)
• Graney-class - in development or construction

French Navy :

• Rubis-class
• Barracuda class - in development

Navy of the People's Republic of China :

• Han-class
• Shang-class

Indian Navy :

• Akula-Class