One payload module and several modules imply different submarine roles

The disagreement narrows once Fleet specifies that his argument concerns a Virginia with one Virginia Payload Module. The missile count for that configuration is corrected to 40 Tomahawks, while earlier estimates approaching a hundred had mixed it with more heavily enlarged proposals. Each module is described as containing four vertical tubes, with seven Tomahawks per tube in that loadout. Designs discussed with two or three modules would concentrate much greater strike capacity in one hull. Fleet accepts that growth beyond one module calls for SSGN treatment, while Clarke argues that even one module moves in that direction because of the payload's value, especially with hypersonic weapons. The practical distinction is therefore partly resolved by specifying which submarine configuration each participant means.