When, on January 17 1955, the captain of USS Nautilus reported “Underway on nuclear power” it ushered in a new era of submarine warfare. In fact it was such a game changer that it reset naval warfare generally. Nuclear powered submarines were faster, did not need to surface during a mission and could run until their crew’s stores run out. Yet despite the disruptive nature of nuclear-powered submarines, few navies could follow the U.S. Navy into this new era. Russia, Britain, France and China built them, and India joined the ranks in the late 1980s by leasing a Russian boat.

Today, those same 6 countries are still the only ones operating nuclear-powered submarines. The U.S. Navy has 70, Russia has 41 including the fateful deep-diving special submarine Losharik, on which 14 submariners lost their lives in July. China is next with 19, Britain has 10, France 9, and India 3. //

During the Cold War others did attempt to follow the U.S. Navy’s lead, but gave up. Few people are aware that Sweden and Italy each had indigenous nuclear-powered submarine programs in the 1960s. But these did not survive to fruition. But today there is a new wave of interest among navies.

Brazil and South Korea are the safest bets for who will come next. And several other navies have either voiced an intention, or are worthy of speculation.