6 ms·
> especially nuclear-armed ones. I took "nuclear sub" to mean "nuclear powered" (as opposed to e.g. diesel-electric, which are still fairly common), which I th
by handrous 5y ago
> especially nuclear-armed ones.
I took "nuclear sub" to mean "nuclear powered" (as opposed to e.g. diesel-electric, which are still fairly common), which I think represents a somewhat larger set of submarines, outside the US, than just the set of all non-US "boomer" (nuclear-armed) subs. That is, attack subs without nuke-tipped missiles can still be nuclear subs because they have a nuke plant onboard for power.
- KineticLensman 5y agoAgree - it's not actually clear which type is meant. If boomers then this is a indeed very small number (e.g. only four for the UK, which is one of the few non-US countries (four?) to operate boomers).
- Eelongate 5y agoThe submarines in question, Seawolf class SSNs, have nuclear reactors but not nuclear weapons.