#4 of 14

Ohio Class Submarines

No, they’re not the biggest nuclear submarines in the world, but they’re the best — at least, that’s what the U.S. Navy would have us believe about the General Dynamics Ohio Class Ballistic missile boat. Russians actually have two classes of subs that are bigger than our Ohio class ones, but ours carry a lot more nuclear missiles. We also haven’t lost any of them. OK, OK, that was low. The Ohios can carry 24 nuclear missiles each, which, when you think about it, are a lot of nuclear missiles. Perhaps too many, but what do I know? They weren’t cheap, though. They began to patrol our waters (and others’ waters) way back in 1981 at the cost of $2 billion per sub. But they only cost about $50 million a year to maintain and operate! The best part is, nuclear-powered ships last forever, so the $4 billion price tag for replacement doesn’t need to be spent just yet…