“SSGNs can get into forward positions by virtue of their stealth and strike targets deep within defended hostile areas,” Kaushal said.Īnd they have the element of surprise. That means it can bring its dozens of land-attack missiles closer to targets well inland, analysts said. It’s quieter than other attack subs in the US fleet and still would present a challenge for China to find in waters closer to its shores. If the USS Ohio is operating out in the Pacific, finding it becomes harder, as China’s anti-submarine force was designed to work closer to its shores, he said.īut even closer to shore, the Ohio has a stealthy advantage, the analysts say. “The question of whether they can do so is a function of how well networked these assets are, and how well trained the operators are – with analysts’ opinions on the PLAN’s progress in this area differing quite a bit,” naval expert Kaushal said. It wasn’t a Cold War submarine power – and in sub hunting, numbers need to be complemented with experience. ![]() Libya is not China, however, and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has numerous and improving anti-submarine warfare capabilities that Libya does not.īiden announces Pentagon task force to review China strategyīeijing has been investing substantial resources in a growing fleet of submarine hunting aircraft and frigates and dozens of hunter-killer submarines, all with the purpose of sinking enemy submarines.īut for all its advancements, China is still playing catch up. The attack marked the first time the SSGNs were used in combat. The magnitude of that firepower was shown in March 2011, when the USS Florida fired almost 100 Tomahawks against targets in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn. “The SSGN remains the platform with the single largest ability to deliver conventional missile payloads,” Martin said. While the Navy could amass a larger number of destroyers to deliver missiles in even greater numbers, as a standalone, hard-to-detect unit, the Ohio-class guided missile submarine is in an ocean by itself in America’s arsenal, said Bradley Martin, a former Navy captain turned naval researcher at the RAND Corp think tank. No opponent of the US can ignore the threat.” “One-hundred and fifty-four Tomahawks accurately deliver a lot of punch. ![]() “SSGNs can deliver a lot of firepower very rapidly,” said Carl Schuster, a former Navy captain and director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center. ![]() The USS Ohio-class guided-missile submarines can carry 154 of the Tomahawks. Sidharth Kaushal, a naval expert at London’s Royal United Services Institute, describes the USS Ohio and its sister boats, the USS Michigan, USS Florida and USS Georgia, as one-stop shops for getting missiles and troops in close to an adversary’s territory.Īnd that could be significant when compared to adversaries like China, which maintains a robust anti-ship missile capability but whose defenses against submarines are still being upgraded and refined.Ī Tomahawk missile is launched from a US Navy submarine during a 2018 test. Washington also deployed two of its massive aircraft carriers for exercises in the same waters and dispatched one of its newest destroyers to Japan.Īnd last week it gave the region a fresh look at the Ohio, showing off the 18,000-ton guided-missile submarine as it participated in exercises with US Marines around the Japanese island of Okinawa. The same destroyer then continued to the Paracel Islands to challenge Beijing’s island claims in the South China Sea. In the past two weeks, Washington has sent a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait, demonstrating the US’ continued commitment to the self-governed democratic island. With a more assertive China, Biden faces growing tensions in Asia
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