The United States Navy has begun retiring the world's most heavily armed conventional missile submarines and is replacing them with a new generation of guided missile platforms, formally redesignating 19 planned Virginia-class submarines fitted with the Virginia Payload Module as SSGNs.
The Navy announced the redesignation on 3 August 2026, one day after USS Georgia, the first of four Ohio-class guided missile submarines, began its inactivation process on 31 July 2026 after more than four decades of service.
