Originally Posted by
ORAC
One thing I discovered when researching Astute vs Virginia class subs, which surprised me was the following.
”The US Virginia-class SSN has a S9G reactor of about 150 MW driving a 30 MW pump-jet propulsion system built by BAE Systems (originally for the Royal Navy).”
https://www.navaltoday.com/2014/02/2...opulsors-deal/
I wouldn't read too much into that. While the pumpjet was first applied operationally to an S-boat in the RN, the people who designed it are long-retired and it was built by a company called VSEL. The unit on the end of the Virginia class is US-designed and US manufactured.