The United States sent this weekend to Guam, the country’s island in Micronesia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most powerful weapons of its Navy, in yet another move that sends messages to China, a geopolitical rival of the Americans with expansionist pretensions in region.
The USS Nevada, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine based at the port in Washington state, capable of carrying 20 Trident ballistic missiles and dozens of nuclear warheads, docked in Guam on Saturday.
“This visit to the port of Guam reflects the United States’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and complements the many exercises, operations, training, and military cooperation activities conducted by the Strategic Forces to ensure they are available and ready to operate around the world.” planet at any time,” the Navy said in a statement.
According to the American news channel CNN, it is the first visit by a ballistic missile submarine to Guam since 2016 and the second visit since the 1980s.
This type of submarine can operate submerged for months on end, time often limited only by the need to renew supplies to sustain a crew of more than 150 sailors. The Navy says Ohio-class submarines spend an average of 77 days at sea.
The movement of the 14 missiles in the Navy’s fleet is usually done in secret, according to CNN. But tensions between the United States and China over Taiwan’s status and North Korea’s increase in weapons tests may have spurred Americans to show firepower, say analysts surveyed by the broadcaster.
“Sends a message, intentional or not: we can park about 100 nuclear warheads on your doorstep and you won’t even know or be able to do much about it. And the reverse is not true and won’t be for a long time,” said Thomas Shugart , former Navy submarine captain and analyst at the Center for a New American Security.
North Korea’s ballistic submarine program is still beginning to be developed. In China’s case, the fleet, estimated at six ballistic missile submarines, still cannot compete with US military power — they also do not have the same capabilities as US missiles, according to analysts at the Center for International Strategic Studies.
China’s Type 094 ballistic missile submarines are twice as tall as US submarines and therefore more easily detected and carry fewer missiles and warheads, CSIS analysts wrote in August, according to CNN.
For Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College, London, submarines in the region allow learning to “hunt” weapons from other actors.
“North Korea is pursuing the development of this type of missile launch pad, and China has already fielded them. Honeing the skills to track them is just as important as deploying them, as a strategic deterrent,” he told CNN.
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