US show of nuclear deterrent strength

A US nuclear-deterrent submarine armed with 20 Trident II D5 strategic missiles has made a rare appearance during a port call in Guam in the western Pacific, sending a warning signal to China and North Korea of America’s “readiness and commitment” to the region. The USS Nevada, one of 14 Ohio-class “boomer” deterrent boats, arrived at Apra harbour in Guam on Saturday. Normally submerged on secret undetectable patrols, providing the US with its most survivable leg of the so-called nuclear triad (land, sea, air), the ballistic-missile submarine was officially photographed by the US Navy to publicise its presence at the American island territory. Coinciding with a series of ballistic-missile tests carried out by North Korea, the deliberate display of US Navy nuclear firepower will not have gone unnoticed in Pyongyang or in Beijing. “This port visit to Guam reflects the United States’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and complements the many exercises, operations, training and military cooperation activities conducted by strategic forces to ensure they are available and ready to operate around the globe at any time,” the US Navy said in a statement. It was the first visit of a “boomer” to Guam since 2016 when USS Pennsylvania made a port call, and only the second appearance in public at the island since the 1980s. The Chinese Navy has a fleet of ballistic-missile submarines whose home port is at Yulin navy base on Hainan Island, the southernmost province of China. However, compared with the US Navy’s 14 Ohio-class boats, China has only four Type 094 strategic submarines and two Type 094A variants, each of which carry up to 12 Julang-2 ballistic missiles. North Korea has a ballistic-missile submarine construction programme and has carried out at least one test flight. Each of the 14 Ohio-class submarines originally carried up to 24 strategic missiles with multiple independently-targeted warheads. However, under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed by the US and Russia in 2010, each submarine had four of their missile tubes permanently deactivated and now carry a maximum of 20 missiles. On average the submarines spend 77 days at sea followed by 35 days in port for maintenance. The US Navy’s next-generation ballistic-missile submarines, the Columbia-class boats, are due to be delivered from 2027.