First ‘Virginia Payload Module’ For Block V Submarines Completed

What Is The VPM?

According to the U.S. Navy, 19 future Virginia-class boats will be equipped with the Virginia Payload Module, which will add 83 feet to the hull, increasing the submarine’s total length from 377 feet to 460 feet. In addition, each Block V boat will have a greater displacement, up from 7,800 tons to 10,200 tons. As a result of the increased length and displacement, the Block V versions of the Virginia-class will be the second-largest U.S. submarines produced behind only the Ohio-class ballistic missile (SSBN) and guided missile (SSGN) submarines.

The added section increases the number of missile launch tubes from 12 to 40, in essence more than tripling the capacity to strike shore targets for each boat. The extended mid-body section can be used to store and fire additional Tomahawk cruise missiles and other payloads, including large-diameter unmanned underwater vehicles.

The VPM will give the Virginia-class, which is already a heavily armed nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, a massive increase in capabilities. The VPM also increased the number of torpedo-sized weapons carried by each submarine from about 37 to about 65, an increase of 66%

Redesignation To SSGNs

As “Fast Attack Submarines,” the Virginia class boats have had the designation SSNs, but as the Block V upgrade and VPM will so greatly increase the number of missiles that can be carried, the Department of the Navy confirmed earlier this year that the submarines of Block V and onward would be redesignated as SSGNs, the hull classification for nuclear-powered guided-missile or cruise-missile submarines.

“SS” denotes a submarine, “G” denotes a guided missile, and “N” denotes that the vessel is nuclear-powered. The SSGN designation was first used when the oldest four Ohio-class SSBNs – including USS Ohio (SSGN-726), USS Michigan (SSGN-727), USS Florida (SSGN-728), and USS Georgia (SSGN-729) – were converted from ballistic missile submarines under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) and the 1994 Nuclear Posture Review. Workers changed 22 of the 24 large missile tubes to hold seven Tomahawk cruise missiles each, giving every ship a total capacity of up to 154 Tomahawks.

The transition gave the U.S. Navy an exceptionally powerful and versatile platform that outmatches standard guided-missile destroyers and was nearly four times that of traditional attack submarines.

On July 31, 2026, the U.S. Navy began retiring its four converted SSGNs, and officials have warned it will create a temporary loss of high-volume, stealthy undersea strike capacity. The VPM is meant to address that issue, and hence the redesignation.

“This reclassification is a clear acknowledgment of the increased lethality VPM brings to the undersea fight,” said Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, director of Submarine Programs for the US Navy. “These VPM-equipped SSGNs will ensure the Navy continues to dominate the undersea domain for decades to come. By integrating this additional payload capacity, we will have the ability to surge strike power to assure our allies, deter aggression, outmatch any adversary, and give our Fleet commanders an incredibly versatile, hard-hitting instrument of national power.”

The Department of the Navy further stated that the classification better signifies the capabilities of the submarines, and how each will “serve as a vital cornerstone for Distributed Maritime Operations and high-end warfighting.”

The Capacity Gap Will Remain

On paper, the reclassification of 19 VPM-equipped Virginia-class ships as SSGNs will realign their designations with the heavy strike mission. Yet, the first VPM platform is not slated for delivery until fiscal year 2029, with full deliveries stretching into the late 2030s.

Thus, the capacity gap will remain a valid issue, and one that will increase in fiscal year 2027, when USS Ohio is retired, followed by USS Florida in FY28 and USS Michigan in FY29.

About USS Arizona

The future SSN-803 will be just the fourth U.S. Navy vessel named for the State of Arizona. The first was an iron-hulled, side-wheel merchant steamship that was first seized by the Confederate forces during the American Civil War, before being captured by the U.S. Navy. The second was a Wampanoag-class wooden-hulled screw frigate that was laid down but never completed.

The most famous USS Arizona (BB-39) was the Pennsylvania-class battleship launched in 1915 and sunk by Japanese bomber aircraft in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The wreck of BB-39 is now below the USS Arizona Memorial, which is visited by more than two million people annually.

The U.S. Navy had not used the name of the Grand Canyon State out of a profound respect for the battleship, and for more than 80 years, the service informally reserved the name for decades so no other active surface warship would share the title. However, in December 2019, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced the new submarine’s name, stating that the goal was to keep alive the spirit of the Greatest Generation and the heroes who perished.

SSN-803’s sponsor, Nikki Stratton, is the granddaughter of Donald Stratton, who was serving as a Seaman First Class aboard the USS Arizona during the 1941 attack. She and the families of other Pearl Harbor survivors have agreed that the future submarine will carry the battleship’s legacy forward and honor those crewmembers who are now entombed on the wreck of BB-39.