New Photo Of US Navy's Next Ballistic Missile Submarine Confirms Its Shocking Scale

An image of the USS District of Columbia ballistic missile submarine has been making the rounds on LinkedIn. Newport News Shipbuilding's Lead Photographer, Ashley Cowan, can be seen standing next to the submarine at the Newport News Shipyard, making its massive size even more apparent. In fact, the USS District of Columbia will be the largest submarine built by the United States, measuring 560 feet long and having a displacement of 20,810 tons. 

This is the first of 12 Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines currently being built for the Navy, with components and infrastructure getting delivered as of June 2026 as part of a pretty fast construction process. She is expected to enter service in 2029. One submarine will be delivered each year after that, with the last Columbia-class submarine arriving around 2041 to 2042. This new class is meant to replace the Ohio-class submarines, which were first deployed in 1981. The total cost of procuring just the next five boats in the class is $62 billion, and they will serve into the 2080s.

The Columbia-class of ballistic missile submarines has been designed to have better survivability and reliability than the previous submarines. To ensure this survivability, the USS District of Columbia has a quieting and propulsion technology leap, new sonar arrays, and sensor upgrades. It also has an electric-drive propulsion train, making it a lot stealthier than submarines with the usual mechanical-drive propulsion train. 

While the size and technology of the Columbia-class have improved over the Ohio-class, the weapons department is quite similar to that of the Ohio-class submarine it's replacing. In fact, it has only 16 missiles on board, a drastic reduction from the Ohio-class's 24 missiles. There will be four missile compartments, each carrying four UGM-133 Trident II D5LE ballistic missiles, each weighing over 130,000 pounds. This submarine-launched missile is an intercontinental-range weapon with improved range over previous generations, reaching up to 6,200 nautical miles. They can be launched while the submarine is submerged, meaning enemies may not realize there's a submarine nearby until it's too late, adding to its stealth.