U.S. Navy Sends USS New Mexico Virginia-class Submarine for Major Overhaul to Sustain Undersea Strike Edge.

The U.S. Navy Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779) has entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for a scheduled major overhaul aimed at restoring full combat capability and extending its service life. The maintenance period supports the Navy’s effort to preserve undersea strike and intelligence dominance amid intensifying competition with China and Russia.

The U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779) has begun a major scheduled overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a maintenance period designed to restore full-spectrum combat readiness and extend the boat’s operational life. Commissioned in 2010, the submarine is expected to undergo depot-level work that typically includes reactor plant maintenance, combat systems upgrades, hull preservation, and modernization of sensors and strike capabilities. U.S. Navy officials describe such availabilities as critical to sustaining deployment cycles for fast attack submarines tasked with intelligence collection, anti-submarine warfare, and land-attack missions. By returning a front-line SSN to peak condition, the service reinforces its ability to deter adversaries, secure sea lines of communication, and project covert power in contested regions.
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The U.S. Navy Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS New Mexico (SSN 779) enters Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on February 21, 2026, to begin a scheduled major maintenance and modernization availability. (Picture source: U.S. Department of War)

The U.S. Navy USS New Mexico arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, on February 21, 2026, to begin what Navy officials describe as a comprehensive overhaul period. The availability is expected to include reactor plant servicing, combat systems modernization, hull preservation, and mechanical system upgrades. While the Navy has not publicly detailed the exact duration, such overhauls for early Block II Virginia-class submarines typically span many months and can approach two years depending on scope. The work forms part of the Navy’s broader effort to address submarine maintenance backlogs that have affected fleet availability rates over the past decade.

Commissioned in 2010, USS New Mexico is a Block II Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine displacing approximately 7,800 tons submerged and measuring 377 feet in length. Powered by an S9G nuclear reactor designed to last the life of the ship without refueling, the submarine is capable of speeds exceeding 25 knots and operates at depths greater than 800 feet. It carries 12 vertical launch system tubes for Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and four 533 mm torpedo tubes for Mk 48 heavyweight torpedoes. In addition to strike warfare, the platform conducts anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence collection, special operations support, and mine warfare missions.

The Virginia class was developed to replace the aging Los Angeles-class attack submarines in service with the U.S. Navy and to provide a more flexible, stealthier, and digitally integrated undersea platform optimized for both blue-water operations and littoral environments. Designed during the post-Cold War era but continuously adapted for renewed peer competition, the class incorporates advanced acoustic quieting, fly-by-wire ship control, modular construction techniques, and an open-architecture combat system that allows iterative technology insertion over decades of service.

As of early 2026, the U.S. Navy operates more than 20 Virginia-class submarines in active service, spanning Blocks I through IV, with additional Block V boats under construction and entering the fleet. The program of record calls for at least 66 boats to form the backbone of the Navy’s future attack submarine force. Several of the earlier Block I and Block II submarines have already undergone modernization availabilities that upgraded sonar processing systems, combat control software baselines, electronic warfare capabilities, and communications suites. Boats from Blocks III and IV incorporated significant design changes from the outset, including the Virginia Payload Tubes that replaced the original 12 individual vertical launch tubes with two large-diameter tubes capable of carrying multiple Tomahawk missiles or other payloads.

The most significant evolution of the class is the Block V configuration, which introduces the Virginia Payload Module. This 84-foot hull insertion adds four large-diameter payload tubes, increasing Tomahawk strike capacity from 12 to up to 40 missiles per submarine. While USS New Mexico predates this modification, its ongoing overhaul ensures that earlier-block boats remain tactically relevant alongside these newer, higher-capacity variants. Modernization enables legacy hulls to remain interoperable with evolving weapons, sensors, and networked command-and-control systems.

The overhaul at Portsmouth is expected to focus heavily on combat system refreshes and sensor calibration. Early Virginia-class boats were designed with an open architecture AN/BYG-1 combat control system that enables rapid software updates and hardware integration. Modernization may include improved sonar algorithms for enhanced detection of ultra-quiet adversary submarines, upgrades to photonic mast systems, refreshed electronic support measures for electromagnetic spectrum dominance, and enhanced secure communications to integrate into joint all-domain operations networks. These upgrades are critical as peer competitors field quieter submarines, long-range anti-ship missiles, and increasingly sophisticated undersea sensor grids.

The importance of these upgrades extends beyond incremental performance gains. The U.S. Navy’s attack submarine force has declined numerically since the Cold War, and projected force levels are expected to dip further in the coming years as older Los Angeles-class boats retire faster than new Virginias are delivered. Every Virginia-class submarine, therefore, represents a high-demand, low-density asset. Ensuring that in-service boats remain technologically current directly offsets numerical pressure by maximizing qualitative superiority.

Operationally, returning USS New Mexico to peak readiness strengthens the U.S. Navy’s ability to maintain continuous forward presence in both the Indo-Pacific and European theaters. Attack submarines are among the most heavily tasked assets in the U.S. force structure, routinely shadowing adversary ballistic missile submarines, conducting covert surveillance in contested waters, supporting special operations forces, and holding strategic land targets at risk with precision strike weapons. In a potential conflict with China, Virginia-class submarines would play a central role in sea-denial operations within the first and second island chains. In the North Atlantic, they remain critical for tracking Russian submarine deployments.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard plays a central role in sustaining this capability. As one of four public naval shipyards responsible for nuclear-powered submarine maintenance, it specializes in complex overhauls and modernizations of attack submarines. The yard is a key component of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, which aims to recapitalize dry docks, modernize facilities, and improve workflow efficiency over a multi-decade horizon. Accelerating maintenance throughput at Portsmouth directly affects fleet availability and the Navy’s ability to meet combatant commander demands.

From an industrial perspective, the USS New Mexico overhaul underscores the strain on the submarine enterprise as it sustains the in-service fleet, builds two Virginia-class submarines per year, and advances the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program. Workforce expansion, supplier resilience, and nuclear-certified component production remain decisive factors. Each modernization period not only restores a combat asset but also reinforces the industrial base that underpins U.S. naval power.

Strategically, upgrading early Virginia-class submarines is essential because undersea warfare remains one of the few domains where the United States retains a clear qualitative edge over near-peer competitors. Preserving that advantage requires continuous modernization, not static capability. As China rapidly expands its submarine fleet and Russia invests in advanced cruise missiles and undersea systems, the technological gap can narrow if legacy platforms are not refreshed.

The successful completion of USS New Mexico’s overhaul will therefore represent more than routine maintenance. It will confirm the U.S. Navy’s ability to sustain its most survivable conventional strike platforms at a time when submarine availability directly shapes deterrence credibility. In an era defined by contested seas and evolving anti-access strategies, maintaining a modernized, mission-ready Virginia-class fleet remains central to U.S. maritime dominance and long-term strategic stability.

Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.