US Los Angeles class nuclear submarine. United States Navy Apple Los Angeles

The US Navy has 51 Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines, sixteen of them are stationed at Pacific Ocean and thirty-two in the Atlantic. The first nuclear submarine of the series entered service in 1976, the last - USS "Cheyenne" was completed in 1996. The ships were built by Newport News Shipbuilding and General Motors Electric Boat Division.

Nine Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines were deployed during the war. Persian Gulf(1991), during which Tomahawk missile launchers were launched from two of them.

Los Angeles-class submarines are attack submarines, also equipped with means for combating enemy submarines, conducting reconnaissance operations, special operations, transfer of special forces, strikes, mining, search and rescue operations.

Missile weapons

Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines built after 1982. equipped with 12 vertical launchers for launching missiles. Nuclear submarines are equipped with combat information system CCS Msrk 2.

The missile armament consists of Tomahawk missile launchers in variants for attacking ground and surface targets. The Tomahawk missile launcher, in its version for attacking coastal targets, has a range of 2,500 km. The TAINS system (Tercom Aided Inertial Navigation System) controls the flight of the missile to the target at subsonic speed at an altitude of 20 to 100 m. The Tomahawk can be equipped with a nuclear warhead. The anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile defense system is equipped with an inertial guidance system, as well as an active anti-radar homing head. range is up to 450 km.

The armament of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine also includes the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The Harpoon anti-ship missile system, modified for submarines, is equipped with an active radar homing head and has a 225 kg warhead. The range is 130 km. at transonic flight speed.

Torpedoes

The submarines have four 533mm torpedo tubes located in the middle part of the hull, as well as a Mark 117 torpedo firing control system. Ammunition includes 26 torpedoes or missiles launched from torpedo tubes, including Tomahawk missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Mark 48 ADCAP torpedoes. Gould Mark 48 torpedoes are designed to destroy both surface targets and high-speed submarines. The torpedo is controlled both with and without the transmission of commands via wire and uses an active and passive homing system. In addition, these torpedoes are equipped with a multiple attack system, which is used when the target is lost. The torpedo searches, captures and attacks the target.

The submarine can also accept mines of the Mobile Mark 67 and Captor Mark 60 models.

Electronic warfare equipment

The submarine's electronic warfare systems include the BRD-7 search system, the WLR-1H and WLR-8(v)2 detection systems, and the WLR-10 radar detection system. The AN/WLY-1 acoustic detection and countermeasures system is being tested to replace the existing WLR-9A/12 acoustic detection system. The submarine is equipped with a Mark 2 torpedo trap system.

Sonars and sensors

Los Angeles-class submarines are equipped with a large set of sonar equipment and sensors: passive towed antenna TV-23/29, side antenna BQG 5D, low-frequency passive and active sonar BQQ 5D/E, high-frequency active short-range sonar Ametek BQS 15 also used for ice detection, high-frequency active sonar MIDAS (Mine and Ice Detection Avoidance System), active search sonar Raytheon SADS-TG.

Power plant

The nuclear submarines are equipped with GE PWR S6G pressurized water reactors with a capacity of 26 MW, developed by General Electric. There is an auxiliary engine with a power of 242 kW. The service life of the reactor fuel elements is about 10 years.

The US Navy has 51 Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines, sixteen of them stationed in the Pacific Ocean and thirty-two in the Atlantic. The first nuclear submarine of the series entered service in 1976, the last, USS Cheyenne, was completed in 1996. The ships were built by Newport News Shipbuilding and General Motors Electric Boat Division.
Nine Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines were deployed during the Gulf War (1991), during which Tomahawk missile launchers were launched from two of them.
Los Angeles-class submarines are attack submarines, also equipped with means for combating enemy submarines, conducting reconnaissance operations, special operations, transporting special forces, striking, mining, and search and rescue operations.
Missile weapons
Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines built after 1982. equipped with 12 vertical launchers for launching missiles. The nuclear submarines are equipped with the CCS Msrk 2 combat information system.
The missile armament consists of Tomahawk missile launchers in variants for attacking ground and surface targets. The Tomahawk missile launcher, in its version for attacking coastal targets, has a range of 2,500 km. The TAINS system (Tercom Aided Inertial Navigation System) controls the flight of the missile to the target at subsonic speed at an altitude of 20 to 100 m. The Tomahawk can be equipped with a nuclear warhead. The anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile defense system is equipped with an inertial guidance system, as well as an active anti-radar homing head. range is up to 450 km.
The armament of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine also includes the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The Harpoon anti-ship missile system, modified for submarines, is equipped with an active radar homing head and has a 225 kg warhead. The range is 130 km. at transonic flight speed.
Torpedoes
The submarines have four 533mm torpedo tubes located in the middle part of the hull, as well as a Mark 117 torpedo firing control system. Ammunition includes 26 torpedoes or missiles launched from torpedo tubes, including Tomahawk missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Mark 48 ADCAP torpedoes. Gould Mark 48 torpedoes are designed to destroy both surface targets and high-speed submarines. The torpedo is controlled both with and without the transmission of commands via wire and uses an active and passive homing system. In addition, these torpedoes are equipped with a multiple attack system, which is used when the target is lost. The torpedo searches, captures and attacks the target.
The submarine can also accept mines of the Mobile Mark 67 and Captor Mark 60 models.
Electronic warfare equipment
The submarine's electronic warfare systems include the BRD-7 search system, the WLR-1H and WLR-8(v)2 detection systems, and the WLR-10 radar detection system. The AN/WLY-1 acoustic detection and countermeasures system is being tested to replace the existing WLR-9A/12 acoustic detection system. The submarine is equipped with a Mark 2 torpedo trap system.
Sonars and sensors
Los Angeles-class submarines are equipped with a large set of sonar equipment and sensors: passive towed antenna TV-23/29, side antenna BQG 5D, low-frequency passive and active sonar BQQ 5D/E, high-frequency active short-range sonar Ametek BQS 15 also used for ice detection, high-frequency active sonar MIDAS (Mine and Ice Detection Avoidance System), Raytheon SADS-TG active search sonar.
Power plant
The nuclear submarines are equipped with GE PWR S6G pressurized water reactors with a capacity of 26 MW, developed by General Electric. There is an auxiliary engine with a power of 242 kW. The service life of the reactor fuel elements is about 10 years.
TTD
Speed ​​(surface) up to 17 knots

Speed ​​(underwater) 30 knots (full), 35 knots (maximum, short-term)
Working diving depth 250-280 m
Maximum diving depth 450 m
Crew 14 officers, 127 junior ranks
Cost ~ $220 million.
Dimensions
Surface displacement
6082-6330 t
Underwater displacement 6927-7177 t
Maximum length (according to KVL)
109.7 m
Body width max. 10.1 m
Average draft (according to waterline) 9.4 m

The history of Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines began in 1906, when a family of immigrants from Russian Empire– Abraham, Rachel and their six-year-old son Chaim. The kid turned out to be no slouch - when he grew up, he entered the Naval Academy and became a four-star admiral in the US Navy. In total, Hyman Rickover served in the Navy for 63 years and would have served more if he had not been caught taking a bribe of 67 thousand dollars (Rickover himself denied it to the end, declaring that this “nonsense” had no influence on his decisions).

In 1979, after a major accident at nuclear power plant Three Mile Island Hyman Rickover, as an expert, was called to testify before Congress. The question sounded prosaic: “ One hundred nuclear submarines of the US Navy are moving in the depths of the oceans - and not a single accident with a reactor core in 20 years. And then the one standing on the shore fell apart new nuclear power plant. Maybe Admiral Rickover knows something Magic word »?

The elderly admiral's answer was simple: there are no secrets, you just need to work with people. Personally communicate with each specialist, immediately remove fools from working with the reactor and kick them out of the fleet. All high ranks who, for some reason, interfere with the training of personnel in accordance with these principles and sabotage the implementation of my instructions, declare a merciless war and also expel them from the fleet. Ruthlessly “gnaw” contractors and engineers. Safety and reliability are the main areas of work, otherwise even the most powerful and modern submarines will be sunk in batches in peacetime.

Admiral Rickover's principles (safety and reliability above all) formed the basis of the Los Angeles project, the largest series in the history of the nuclear submarine fleet, consisting of 62 multi-purpose nuclear submarines. The purpose of the “Los Angeles” (or “Losey” - the nickname of the boats in the Soviet fleet) is to fight enemy surface ships and submarines, cover aircraft carrier groups and deployment areas of strategic submarine missile carriers. Covert mining, reconnaissance, special operations.

If we take as a basis only the tabular characteristics: “speed”, “immersion depth”, “number of torpedo tubes”, then against the background of domestic “Typhoons”, “Anteev” and “Pike”, “Los Angeles” looks like a mediocre trough. A single-hull steel coffin divided into three compartments - any hole would be fatal to it. For comparison, the rugged body of the domestic multi-purpose is divided into six sealed compartments. And the giant underwater has 19 of them!

There are only four torpedo tubes located at an angle to the center plane of the hull. As a result, the “Moose” cannot fire at full speed - otherwise the torpedo will simply be broken by the incoming stream of water. For comparison, the Shchuka-B has 8 bow-mounted tubes and is capable of using its weapons over the entire range of operating depths and speeds.

The working depth of the Los Angeles is only 250 meters. A quarter of a kilometer – is that really not enough? For comparison, the working depth of the Shchuka-B is 500 meters, the maximum is 600!

Canonical image of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine

Boat speed. Surprisingly, things are not so bad for the American here – in a submerged position, the “Moose” is capable of accelerating to 35 knots. The result is more than worthy, only six knots less than the incredible Soviet Lyra (project 705). And this is without the use of titanium cases and scary reactors with metal coolants!

On the other hand, high maximum speed has never been the most important parameter of a submarine - already at 25 knots of acoustics the boats stop hearing anything due to the noise of the incoming water and the submarine becomes “deaf”, and at 30 knots the boat rumbles so much that it can be heard at the other end of the ocean. High speed- a useful, but not very important quality.

The main weapon of any submarine is stealth. This parameter contains the whole meaning of the existence of the submarine fleet. Stealth is determined primarily by the level of its own noise. The noise level of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines did not just meet international standards. The Los Angeles-class submarine itself set world standards.

There were several reasons for the exceptional quietness of the Los Angeles nuclear submarine.:

- single-hull design. The area of ​​the wetted surface decreased, and, as a result, the noise from friction with the water when the boat moved;

- quality of screws. By the way, the manufacturing quality of the third-generation Soviet nuclear submarine propellers also increased (and their noise decreased) after the detective story with the purchase of high-precision metal-cutting machines from Toshiba. Having learned about the secret deal between the USSR and Japan, America threw such a scandal that poor Toshiba almost lost access to the American market. Late! “Pike-B” with new propellers have already entered the vastness of the World Ocean.

— some specific points, such as rational placement of equipment inside the boat, depreciation of turbines and power equipment. The reactor circuits have greater degree natural circulation of the coolant - this made it possible to abandon high-capacity pumps, and, consequently, reduce the noise of the Los Angeles.

It is not enough for a submarine to be fast and secretive - to successfully complete its missions, it is necessary to have a specific understanding of the surrounding environment, learn to navigate the water column, find and identify surface and underwater targets. For a long time, the only means of external detection were a periscope and a hydroacoustic post with an analyzer in the form of an acoustic sailor’s ear. Well, there’s also a gyrocompass that shows where the North is under this damn water.

In Los Angeles everything is much more interesting. American engineers played all-in - they removed all equipment from the bow of the boat, including torpedo tubes. As a result, the entire bow of the hull is occupied by a spherical antenna of the AN/BQS-13 hydroacoustic station with a diameter of 4.6 meters. Also, the submarine’s hydroacoustic complex includes a conformal side-scan antenna consisting of 102 hydrophones, an active high-frequency sonar for detecting natural obstacles (underwater rocks, ice fields on the water surface, mines, etc.), as well as two towed passive antennas of 790 and 930 meters (including cable length).

Other means of collecting information include:
— equipment for measuring the speed of sound at various depths(completely necessary remedy to accurately determine the distance to the target);
— AN/BPS-15 radar and AN/WLR-9 electronic reconnaissance system (for work on the surface);
— general overview periscope (type 8);
— attack periscope (type 15).

However, no cool sensors and sonars helped the San Francisco nuclear submarine - on January 8, 2005, the boat, traveling at 30 knots (≈55 km/h), crashed into an underwater rock. One sailor was killed, 23 more were injured, and the luxurious antenna in the bow was smashed to pieces.

USS San Francisco (SSN-711) after colliding with an underwater obstacle

The weakness of the Los Angeles torpedo armament is to some extent compensated for by a wide range of ammunition - in total there are 26 Mk.48 remote-controlled torpedoes on board the boat (caliber 533 mm, weight ≈ 1600 kg), anti-ship missiles SUB-Harpoon, SUBROC anti-submarine missile torpedoes, and Captor smart mines.

To increase combat effectiveness, 12 more vertical launch silos for storing and launching Tomahawks began to be installed in the bow of each Los Angeles, starting with the 32nd boat. In addition, some submarines are equipped with a Dry Deck Shelter container for storing combat swimmers' equipment.

The modernization of the submarine was carried out not “for show”, but based on reality combat experience– “Los Angeles” aircraft are regularly used to strike coastal targets. "Moose" are covered in blood up to their horns - on the list of destroyed targets are Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya...

USS Greeneville (SSN-772) with Dry Deck Shelter attached to her hull

The last 23 boats were built according to the modified "Improved Los Angeles" project. Submarines of this type were specially adapted for operations in high latitudes under the Arctic ice dome. The boats' wheelhouse rudders were removed and replaced with retractable rudders in the bow. The screw was enclosed in a profiled ring nozzle, which further reduced the noise level. The radio-electronic “stuffing” of the boat has undergone partial modernization.

The last boat of the Los Angeles series, called Cheyenne, was built in 1996. At the time when the last boats of the series were completed, the first 17 units, having served their due period, were already being scrapped. "Moose" still form the basis of the US submarine fleet, as of 2013, 42 submarines of this type are still in service.

Returning to our initial conversation - what did the Americans end up with - a worthless tin "tub" with understated characteristics or a highly effective underwater combat system?

Purely from a reliability point of view, the Los Angeles has set a record that has not yet been broken by anyone - during 37 years of active operation on 62 boats of this type, not a single serious accident involving damage to the reactor core was recorded. The Hyman Rickover tradition is still alive today.

As for the combat characteristics, the creators of the “Moose” can be praised a little. The Americans managed to build a generally successful ship with an emphasis on the most important characteristics (stealth and detection means). The boat was undoubtedly the best in the world in 1976, but by the mid-1980s, with the advent of the first multi-purpose nuclear submarines of Project 971 “Pike-B” in the USSR Navy, the American submarine fleet again found itself in a “catch-up” position.

Realizing that the Los was somewhat inferior to the Pike-B, the United States began developing the SeaWolf project, a formidable submarine cruiser at a cost of $3 billion apiece (they completed the construction of three SeaWolfs in total).

Central post of the submarine "Los Angeles"

Arctic cruises of American sailors

The Los Angeles nuclear submarine at periscope depth

In general, a conversation about Los Angeles-class boats is not so much a conversation about technology, but a conversation about the crews of these submarines. Man is the measure of everything. It is thanks to the preparation and careful maintenance of equipment that American sailors In 37 years we managed not to lose a single boat of this type.

P.S. In April 1984, retired Admiral Hyman Rickover received a cool gift for his 84th birthday - a 7,000-ton Los Angeles-class submarine attack ship named in his honor.

LOS ANGELES TYPE NUCLEAR SUBMARINE (USA)

NUCLEAR SUBMARINE OF CLASS LOS ANGELES (USA)

24.05.2012
A fire broke out aboard the nuclear submarine SSN-755 Miami at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Kittery Island, Maine, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, May 23.
As a result of the fire, four people were injured, shipyard management officials said. After rendering medical care all the victims were released from the hospital, they added, without specifying any other details. Local media, in turn, reported that the victims were firefighters extinguishing the fire on the nuclear submarine.
Representatives of the shipyard management also said that the fire was located in the bow compartment of the submarine. The reactor of the Miami nuclear submarine was switched off at the time of the incident; it was not damaged as a result of the fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.
USS Miami SSN 755, a Los Angeles-class multipurpose nuclear submarine, was commissioned by the US Navy in June 1990, The Portland Press Herald reports. Miami arrived at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in March 2012 to undergo technical inspection and modernization of a number of systems. The crew of the nuclear submarine at the time of arrival at the shipyard consisted of 133 people.

26.05.2012
Possibility of returning to service the Portsmouth shipyard, which burned down in a dry dock, Kittery, pc. Maine of the American nuclear submarine SSN-755 Miami is still in question.
The fire, which engulfed the command and living quarters of the boat and lasted about 5 hours, is assessed by US Navy officials as “extensive.” As Rear Admiral Rick Brickenridge noted, it is too early to say whether the Miami can be restored. The cause of the fire and the cost of the damage caused have not yet been announced. The burned out compartments are now sealed off to prevent oxygen from flowing in until the military is confident the fire will not reoccur.
07.06.2012
The U.S. Navy's Portsmouth ship repair yard has announced a preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire on the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine SSN755 Miami, which was caused by a vacuum cleaner that was being used to clean living quarters and was left in one of the unoccupied rooms at the end of the work shift.

24.07.2012
A suspect has been charged in Maine District Court in connection with the arson attack on the USS Miami in May. According to CNN, the painter was in the dock and had already confessed.
According to the Kennebec Journal, 24-year-old Portsmouth Navy Yard employee Casey James Fury was arrested last Friday. In addition to arson on the submarine itself, he is also charged with a fire on the dock in Maine where it was located. The second incident occurred on June 16.
If found guilty, the painter faces life in prison. He may also be required to compensate for damage from the fires and pay a fine of $250,000, CNN clarifies.
The fire on the Miami nuclear submarine occurred on May 23. Its hearth was located in the bow compartment of the ship. Several people were injured while extinguishing the fire, which took about ten hours. Soon, the cause of the fire was determined to be a vacuum cleaner, but investigators believed that rags got into its hose by accident.
Damage from the incident was estimated at $400 million. The total cost of the submarine, launched in 1990, was $900 million. The Navy has not yet decided whether to send it for repairs or dispose of it. (lenta.ru)

23.08.2012
The US Navy will spend $450 million to restore and repair the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Miami, which was damaged by fire on May 23, 2012, the cost estimate for repairs is $50 million higher than originally expected, the cost of repairs could increase by another 45 million dollars.

19.09.2012
$94 million has been allocated for the repair of the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack missile submarine USS Miami SSN-755, damaged in a fire on May 23 this year, the contract was awarded to Electric Boat Corp by the US Naval Sea Systems Command, the ministry reported. defense

14.10.2012
Nuclear Submarine The US Navy's Los Angeles-class Montpelier and the CG-47 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser CG-56 San Jacinto collided on Saturday (Sunday night Moscow time) during a scheduled exercise near east coast USA, according to NBC television.
In the United States, during an exercise, a missile cruiser collided with a nuclear submarine. The incident occurred off the east coast of the United States. None of the crew members were injured, ITAR-TASS reports.
The patrolmen of the cruiser San Jacinto, equipped with the Aegis missile interception system, saw the periscope of the Montpellier submarine raised above the water in advance, but failed to avoid the strike.
As a result of the collision, the cruiser's sonar fairing was damaged. The submarine's nuclear reactor remained undamaged. Both ships remained underway. IN this moment An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is underway.
The Los Angeles-class attack submarine Montpelier was built in 1991. Nuclear-powered cruiser San Jacinto, equipped anti-missile system Aegis has been in service with the US Navy since 1988.

The history of Los Angeles-type atomic killers began in 1906, when a family of emigrants from the Russian Empire - Abraham, Rachel and their six-year-old son Chaim - entered the hall of the Immigration Service of Ellis Island (New York). The kid turned out to be no slouch - when he grew up, he entered the Naval Academy and became a four-star admiral in the US Navy. In total, Hyman Rickover served in the Navy for 63 years and would have served more if he had not been caught taking a bribe of 67 thousand dollars (Rickover himself denied it to the end, declaring that this “nonsense” had no influence on his decisions).

In 1979, after a major accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, Hyman Rickover, as an expert, was called to testify before Congress. The question sounded prosaic: “One hundred nuclear submarines of the US Navy are moving in the depths of the oceans - and not a single accident with the reactor core in 20 years. And then the new nuclear power plant standing on the shore collapsed. Maybe Admiral Rickover knows some magic word?

The elderly admiral's answer was simple: there are no secrets, you just need to work with people. Personally communicate with each specialist, immediately remove fools from working with the reactor and kick them out of the fleet. All high ranks who, for some reason, interfere with the training of personnel in accordance with these principles and sabotage the implementation of my instructions, declare a merciless war and also expel them from the fleet. Ruthlessly “gnaw” contractors and engineers. Safety and reliability are the main areas of work, otherwise even the most powerful and modern submarines will be sunk in batches in peacetime.

If we take as a basis only the tabular characteristics: “speed”, “immersion depth”, “number of torpedo tubes”, then against the background of domestic “Typhoons”, “Anteev” and “Pike”, “Los Angeles” looks like a mediocre trough. A single-hull steel coffin divided into three compartments - any hole would be fatal to it. For comparison, the durable hull of the domestic multi-purpose nuclear submarine Project 971 “Shchuka-B” is divided into six sealed compartments. And the giant Project 941 Akula missile carrier has 19 of them!

There are only four torpedo tubes located at an angle to the center plane of the hull. As a result, the “Moose” cannot fire at full speed - otherwise the torpedo will simply be broken by the incoming stream of water. For comparison, the Shchuka-B has 8 bow-mounted tubes and is capable of using its weapons over the entire range of operating depths and speeds.
The working depth of the Los Angeles is only 250 meters. A quarter of a kilometer – is that really not enough? For comparison, the working depth of the Shchuka-B is 500 meters, the maximum is 600!

Canonical image of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine

On the other hand, high maximum speed has never been the most important parameter of a submarine - already at 25 knots of acoustics the boats stop hearing anything due to the noise of the incoming water and the submarine becomes “deaf”, and at 30 knots the boat rumbles so much that it heard at the other end of the ocean. High speed is a useful, but not very important quality.

The main weapon of any submarine is stealth. This parameter contains the whole meaning of the existence of the submarine fleet. Stealth is determined primarily by the submarine's own noise level. The noise level of the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines did not just meet international standards. The Los Angeles-class submarine itself set world standards.
There were several reasons for the exceptional low noise of the Elks:

Single-hull design. The area of ​​the wetted surface decreased, and, as a result, the noise from friction with the water when the boat moved.

The quality of the screws. By the way, the manufacturing quality of the third-generation Soviet nuclear submarine propellers also increased (and their noise decreased) after the detective story with the purchase of high-precision metal-cutting machines from Toshiba. Having learned about the secret deal between the USSR and Japan, America threw such a scandal that poor Toshiba almost lost access to the American market. Late! “Pike-B” with new propellers have already entered the vastness of the World Ocean.

Some specific points, such as rational placement of equipment inside the boat, depreciation of turbines and power equipment. The reactor circuits have a high degree of natural coolant circulation - this made it possible to abandon high-capacity pumps and, consequently, reduce the noise of the Los Angeles.

It is not enough for a submarine to be fast and secretive - to successfully complete its missions, it is necessary to have a specific understanding of the surrounding environment, learn to navigate the water column, find and identify surface and underwater targets. For a long time, the only means of external detection were a periscope and a hydroacoustic post with an analyzer in the form of an acoustic sailor’s ear. Well, there’s also a gyrocompass that shows where the North is under this damn water.

Other means of collecting information include: equipment for measuring the speed of sound at various depths (an absolutely necessary tool for accurately determining the distance to a target), AN/BPS-15 radar and AN/WLR-9 electronic reconnaissance system (for work on the surface), periscope general view (type 8) and attack periscope (type 15).
However, no cool sensors and sonars helped the San Francisco nuclear submarine - on January 8, 2005, a boat traveling at 30 knots (≈55 km/h) crashed into an underwater rock. One sailor was killed, 23 more were injured, and the luxurious antenna in the bow was smashed to pieces.

USS San Francisco (SSN-711) after colliding with an underwater obstacle

To increase combat effectiveness, 12 more vertical launch silos for storing and launching Tomahawks began to be installed in the bow of each Los Angeles, starting with the 32nd boat. In addition, some submarines are equipped with a Dry Deck Shelter container for storing combat swimmers' equipment.
The modernization was not carried out “for show”, but based on real combat experience - Los Angeles aircraft are regularly used to strike coastal targets. "Moose" are covered in blood up to their horns - on the list of destroyed targets are Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya...

USS Greeneville (SSN-772) with Dry Deck Shelter attached to her hull

Returning to our initial conversation - what did the Americans end up with - a worthless tin "tub" with understated characteristics or a highly effective underwater combat system?

Purely from a reliability point of view, the Los Angeles has set a record that has not yet been broken by anyone - during 37 years of active operation on 62 boats of this type, not a single serious accident involving damage to the reactor core was recorded. The Hyman Rickover tradition is still alive today.

As for the combat characteristics, the creators of the “Moose” can be praised a little. The Americans managed to build a generally successful ship with an emphasis on the most important characteristics (stealth and detection means). The boat was undoubtedly the best in the world in 1976, but by the mid-1980s, with the advent of the first multi-purpose nuclear submarines of Project 971 “Pike-B” in the USSR Navy, the American submarine fleet again found itself in a “catch-up” position. Realizing that the Los was somewhat inferior to the Pike-B, the United States began developing the SeaWolf project, a formidable submarine cruiser priced at $3 billion apiece (they completed the construction of three SeaWolfs in total).

In general, a conversation about Los Angeles-class boats is not so much a conversation about technology, but a conversation about the crews of these submarines. Man is the measure of everything. It was thanks to the preparation and careful maintenance of the equipment that American sailors managed to not lose a single boat of this type for 37 years.

Post scriptum. In April 1984, retired Admiral Hyman Rickover received a cool gift for his 84th birthday - a 7,000-ton Los Angeles-class submarine attack ship named in his honor.