The US Navy's Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines are among the quietest submarines in the world, making them nearly undetectable as they patrol the world's oceans.

Nothing is more critical to an attack submarine's operations and viability than stealth. Gliding deep under the ocean, a submarine must remain undetected in order to strike without tipping off targets.

The ambient noise level of the ocean's winds and waves, while variable, sits at about 85 decibels.

Noise travels four times faster underwater than it does in air.

Large cargo vessels can emit about 190 decibels. The call of a blue whale can reach 180 decibels, and dolphins can produce whistles of up to 163 decibels.

Virginia-class submarines operate at a mere 95 decibels, in comparison.

Decibels do not scale linearly but rather logarithmically, meaning that an increase of 10 decibels represents 10 times more noise.

Thus, a submarine with an acoustic signature of 105 decibels, like the Russian Kilo-class submarine, is 10 times louder than a Virginia-class submarine operating at 95 decibels.

Firepower

The Virginia class offers far more than just low volume.

Each submarine has 12 Vertical Launch System tubes that can fire the lethal and precise Tomahawk cruise missile, as well as four 53.3cm-diameter torpedo tubes capable of firing either Mk48 torpedoes or UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Block V ships will have the Virginia Payload Module, which adds a new hull section that incorporates four additional large-diameter payload tubes that can each carry seven Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The Virginia class can deliver missiles from thousands of kilometers away, as Tomahawk cruise missiles boast a range of 2,400 km, all while operating stealthily beneath the waves.

The 22 commissioned submarines have replaced Los Angeles-class submarines as they retire. The US Navy plans to have 44 more Virginia-class submarines enter service for a total of 66 planned.