US Navy deploys guided nuclear submarine to West Asia amid Israel-Hamas war
The submarine's arrival reinforces the presence of other US Navy assets, including two carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group, in the area.
Israel-Hamas war: The United States in a rathe rare move announced that a guided nuclear missile submarine had arrived in West Asia. The move was hailed by Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel amid their ongoing war with Hamas fighters in Palestine's Gaza.
The US Central Command took to its social media 'X', and stated that an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility on November 5.
“On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.” the US Central Command tweeted.
Notably, the submarines can be equipped with advanced ballistic or Tomahawk cruise missiles. The arrival of the missile seemed intended to display a message of deterrence clearly directed at regional adversaries like Iran and its proxies as the Biden administration tries to avoid a broader conflict amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The submarine joins a number of other US Navy assets already in the area, including two carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group, reported CNN.
The US Navy has four Ohio-class guided missile submarines (SSGNs), that are former ballistic missile submarines converted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles rather than nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
Each SSGN can carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 50 per cent more than US guided-missile destroyers pack and almost four times what the US Navy's newest attack subs are armed with, CNN reported.
Each Tomahawk can carry up to a 1,000-pound high-explosive warhead.
The announcement of the arrival of an Ohio-class submarine comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a series of talks with US partners in West Asia.
The US had struggled to sanction more aid both monetary and ammunition for Israel int he initial weeks of Netanyahu's way to ‘eliminate’ Hamas fighters. The debacle around the appointment of a US House speaker had halted the process.
However, now US has ramped up aids both for Israel and Ukraine. The move comes even as Israel pounds Palestine's Gaza killing over 10,000 civilians. Israel also bombarded refugee camps, including the Jabalia refugee camp, in the quest to fish out Hamas fighters.
World leaders have called for ceasefire in Gaza, even though Netanyahu monstrously bombards Palestine's Gaza.
Meanwhile, Blinken is on a visit to West Asian countries, including Turkey, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Cyprus.
Earlier on Sunday, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and said 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, CNN reported.
Austin also said that the additional forces in the area were meant to "bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for US forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel."
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First Published:6 Nov 2023, 09:18 PM IST
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