The US military has announced the entry of a guided missile submarine into the Middle East, a rare move directed at regional adversaries, primarily those backed by Iran. The subs can be equipped with advanced ballistic or Tomahawk cruise missiles.
US Central Command on Sunday (Nov 5) declared on social media that an Ohio-class submarine entered its area of responsibility even as Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the region. Blinken has so far visited Turkey, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Cyprus in his second visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Ohio-class submarine is a US class of nuclear-powered submarines, which can carry up to 24 Trident II D5 nuclear missiles. These submarines are known for their stealth and ability to operate quietly beneath the ocean’s surface, which renders them undetectable to adversaries.
Rare announcement
It is not usual for the US to announce the movement of its strategic assets in the area. In fact, the USA’s nuclear subs operate in near complete secrecy.
Through this move, the US might want to send a clear message to Iranian proxies in the region, who have of late issued threats of a wider conflict in the area if the Jewish nation fails to roll back its ongoing assault on Gaza.
The US has already witnessed low-level attacks on its assets in Iraq and Syria. Clearly, Washington DC looks in no mood to let Iranian proxies have their way in the conflict.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had earlier announced that his nation would be reinforcing its security assets in the Middle East and also Israel.
Austin said Sunday that 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 Iran-backed armed group.
Other US assets in the region
The US has already deployed a number of other navy assets in the area, including two carrier strike groups—the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group—and an amphibious ready group.
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The new submarine that arrived in the region Sunday, which has not been named yet, will further solidify USA’s defensive shield.
In October 2022, the US made public a ballistic missile submarine in the Middle East, when the commander of US Central Command, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, boarded the USS West Virginia. Kurilla’s visit occurred at an “undisclosed location at sea in international waters,” Central Command said at the time.
(With inputs from agencies)
