The US Navy's newest Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine has been christened South Dakota (SSN 790).
SSN 790's naming ceremony was held at the Groton shipyard of General Dynamics' subsidiary Electric Boat in Connecticut.
South Dakota represents the 17th ship of the Virginia-class. The keel for the vessel was laid in April 2016.
The submarine is expected to be commissioned for service in the second half of 2018.
South Dakota is also the seventh of the eight-ship group of Virginia-class Block III submarines, which are equipped with water-backed large aperture bow (LAB) array systems.
Virginia-class submarines are capable of conducting anti-submarine, anti-surface ship and strike warfare, as well as special operation forces support.
They can be deployed for a variety of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations, in addition to irregular warfare and mine warfare missions.
