That would be interesting....
But the greatest vulnerability with any nuc boat will always be that it has a belly FULL of rotating mechanical machinery...hundreds of pumps and motors, just waiting to make a noise transient. Even with the best, most modern sound isolation technology, I don’t see how that can compete with a submerged diesel on battery, where all you have running is the electric motor (very quiet), maybe some pumps for shaft sealing water, and ventillation fans.
Of course all the technology in the world is useless without a highly trained professional crew, and on that level, the US has no equal.
Both the latest U.S. nuke boats and the latest diesel electric boats are incredibly quiet, and if one is any louder than the other it's only by a matter of a few decibels. But the problem isn't one quieter than the other, it's that both are as quiet as each other. And detecting the opposition just got that much harder.
“Of course all the technology in the world is useless without a highly trained professional crew, and on that level, the US has no equal.”
Maybe for the time being, but judging from the acceleration of stories in the media - at the rate we’re losing our superiority militarily (along with economically and every other way) I give it about ten more years before we’re bested in that category, too.