In a rare announcement, the US military said a guided missile submarine has arrived in the Middle East, a message of deterrence clearly aimed at regional adversaries as Joe Biden’s administration tries to avoid a wider conflict amid the war between Israel and Hamas. .
US Central Command said on Sunday (5) on social media that an Ohio-class submarine was entering its area of responsibility. A photo posted with the announcement appeared to show the submarine in the Suez Canal, northeast of Cairo.
The social media post did not mention the name of the submarine, but the U.S. Navy has four Ohio-class guided missile submarines, or SSGNs, which are former ballistic missile submarines converted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of ballistic missiles with nuclear tip.
Each SSGN can carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 50% more than the U.S. guided missile destroyer package and nearly four times what the U.S. Navy’s newest attack submarines are armed with.
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Each Tomahawk can carry more than 450 kg of high-explosive warheads.
“SSGNs can deliver a lot of firepower very quickly,” Carl Schuster, former director of operations for the Joint Intelligence Center at U.S. Pacific Command, told CNN in 2021.
“One hundred and fifty-four Tomahawks accurately deliver a lot of power. No U.S. opponent can ignore the threat.”
The magnitude of this firepower was demonstrated in March 2011, when the guided missile submarine USS Florida fired nearly 100 Tomahawks at targets in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn. The attack marked the first time SSGNs were used in combat.
The military rarely announces the movements or operations of its fleet of ballistic and guided missile submarines. Instead, nuclear-powered vessels operate in near-total secrecy.
The announcement is a clear message of deterrence directed at Iran and its proxies in the region. The submarine joins a number of other U.S. Navy assets already in the area, including two aircraft carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group.
In April, the Navy announced that the USS Florida, one of two SSGNs located on the East Coast, was operating in the Middle East.
In June, the Navy touted the visit of one of its two West Coast SSGNs, the USS Michigan, to South Korea as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to its Indo-Pacific allies.
The announcement of a guided missile submarine in the region comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a series of meetings with US partners in the Middle East. In a quick trip, Blinken visited Turkey, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Cyprus.
On Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In addition to emphasizing the need to protect civilians and provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Austin said the US was committed to deterring “any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this conflict,” a clear reference to Iran and Hezbollah, the group Iranian-backed armed group.
Frequent low-intensity attacks have been launched against US forces in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed groups, but the US has made clear that broader strikes would provoke a major response.
Austin said this month that the additional forces in the area were intended to “bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase the protection of U.S. forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel.”
“We will do everything and take all necessary measures to protect U.S. forces and our interests abroad,” said Brig.
Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Oct. 23: “Again, no one wants to see an escalating conflict, and that is our primary goal, but we will also never hesitate to protect our forces.”
(Haley Britzky and Will Mullery contributed to this text)
Source: CNN Brasil
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